Dorchester and Weymouth Bee Keepers Association

I have added a few For Sale notices on the For Sale page and this is also a reminder of the Basic Assessment Mock at the Stinsford Apiary this morning. I expected it to be an unbearably hot day and not the soer of day you would be wanting to put on a bee suit. Not so. It is quite chilly. If you want to see more on how to handle bees then get yourself down to the apiary and see an expert manuipulating bees.

Saturday 17th May -at 11am a Mock Basic Assessment will be held at the Stinsford Apiary. Lesley will be demonstrating what is involved in doing the Basic Assessment. I attended last year's mock and despite having kept bees for many years I still learned more. If you are thinking of taking the Basic Assessment then this will be an excellent opportunity.

Tuesday 17th June at 6:30 there will be a BBKA Zoom lecture at the Colliton Club on "Small Scale Queen Rearing". We have held two of these sessions and they have been popular. An opportunity to listen to an expert and then discuss with others what we have heard.

Sunday 22nd June - at 2pm Kevin will be at Stinsford Apiary. He will inspect the hives and comment on what he sees. With his vast experience he can always add to our knowledge of what is going on in our hives. The session will be followed by a picnic - if you bring some cake! Last year we had a similar session and we had an excellent social time as well as learning a lot.

Wednesday 30th July- at 7pm there is a committee meeting. OK that is for committee only but speak to any of the committee if you have requests or suggestions and it will be discussed. It is your Association.

Wednesday 13th August - at 7pm there will be a social at the Colliton Club. Come along and tell us how it is going in your apiary.

As the beekeeping season really gets under way we have more dates for you to put in your diary:

Thursday May 15th -at 7pm Social at the Colliton Club. With the threat of Yellow Legged Hornet ever present we will be selling traps. We will also be having a demonstration of how to set one up. We will also be having a demonstration of the "Pollenizer". This is a device the Yellow Legged Hornet team can use to attract the Yellow Legged Hornet. Why would you want to do that? Well if we can attract it we can see in which direction it flies away and hence we can locate the nest.

Saturday 17th May -at 11am a Mock Basic Assessment will be held at the Stinsford Apiary. Lesley will be demonstrating what is involved in doing the Basic Assessment. I attended last year's mock and despite having kept bees for many years I still learned more. If you are thinking of taking the Basic Assessment then this will be an excellent opportunity.

Tuesday 17th June at 6:30 there will be a BBKA Zoom lecture at the Colliton Club on "Small Scale Queen Rearing". We have held two of these sessions and they have been popular. An opportunity to listen to an expert and then discuss with others what we have heard.

Sunday 22nd June - at 2pm Kevin will be at Stinsford Apiary. He will inspect the hives and comment on what he sees. With his vast experience he can always add to our knowledge of what is going on in our hives. The session will be followed by a picnic - if you bring some cake! Last year we had a similar session and we had an excellent social time as well as learning a lot.

Wednesday 30th July- at 7pm there is a committee meeting. OK that is for committee only but speak to any of the committee if you have requests or suggestions and it will be discussed. It is your Association.

Wednesday 13th August - at 7pm there will be a social at the Colliton Club. Come along and tell us how it is going in your apiary.

For several years we have warned of the threat of the Asian Hornet and so far little has come of it. A bit like the boy who cried wolf - but it is not.

Two years ago we had Asian Hornets on Portland. Due to prompt action we eliminated them before they could get a hold. It is that same prompt action we need now.

The Asian Hornet - or Yellow Legged Hornet or Yellow Legged Asian Hornet - will be at that stage in its life cycle where the fertilised queen (gyne) is establishing a primary nest and laying eggs. This is when she is at her most vulnerable. She is a single mother who has to look after her young and also go out to work and collect food.

This is the time when we should be setting monitoring stations and monitoring traps. If we can catch and kill one Yellow Legged Hornet then that will potentially save us from up to 350 fertilised queens being produced for next year.

So I urge you to get your traps and bait stations out there. Place sweet, carbohydrate lures in there and monitor them every day. For bait use any combination of beer, wine, fruit juice with some sugar. If you catch an Yellow Legged Hornet then pop it in the freezer. That way it is killed, preserved and in a suitable state for DEFRA to examine the DNA. Contact the local Asian Hornet Coordinator or report it on the App.

Why is it important for DEFRA to be informed? Well they may be able to identify the origins of hornet. Supposing we get two queens found in Dorset. If they are not related then it was just chance that gave us two. However if they were related then the chances are we have many more in the county that over wintered here.

And Also

I have removed all the entries on the For Sale page. Some of them were considerably out of date and I suspect may not have been available any longer. If you wish to have and entry on the page then just email me with details and photos and it will be restored.

But no sooner do I remove all the entries than there is a new For Sale item. This time bee suits for smaller people. Do have a look.