East Waterford Beekeepers' Association

Lecture: European Foul Brood
2021-05-05 20:00 - 21:30 (Europe/Dublin) | On-Line
Wednesday May 5th, 8pm
European Foulbrood
Dr Chris Palgrave BSc(Hons), BVM&S, PhD, FHEA, FRCPath, MRCVS
Chris graduated from the University of Edinburgh, where he also intercalated a PhD in immunogenetics and
comparative pathology at the Roslin Institute. He worked as a practicing vet in the UK and USA before attending
the anatomic pathology residency program at North Carolina State University. Chris returned to the UK as a
Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and has also held Senior Lectureships at the Universities of Bristol and
Surrey. Chris spent two years at a diagnostic pathology laboratory in Bristol (Bridge Pathology) and is now
Veterinary Anatomic Pathologist for IDEXX Laboratories Ltd. He has been with IDEXX since June 2018, where
their exclusive use of digital pathology allows him to work remotely. Chris has been keeping bees for several
years and currently has 10 colonies, with plans to increase to 15 in the coming season. He has recently launched
a fledgling business, Three Hares Honey, from his home in rural Hampshire.

Book: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dB38Yj3cRG-jdX5TQOPPqw

Lecture: The Magic and Mystery of Drone Congregation Areas - with Stephen Fleming
2021-05-05 19:00 - 21:00 | On-Line
Drone Congregation Areas – the place to be or the last-chance saloon?

About this Event

Fascinated by the idea that there might be specific meeting and mating places for drones and queens, Stephen Fleming started looking for them around his apiaries but found one where he least expected. As he discovered more, a pattern seemed to appear but it didn’t match findings in other parts of the world. What is going on? How can drones who do not live from one year to the next find the same locations year after year? How can queens who so rarely leave their nest find them? He still has more questions than answers but his fascination with drone congregation areas (DCAs) is undimmed and the thrill of discovering new ones undiminished. In his talk he will discuss his methods, some prevailing ideas plus videos and audios of a few DCA discoveries.

About the speaker
Stephen Fleming became a beekeeper in 1994 just as the varroa mite started to change British beekeeping and has seen the change of the public perception of the craft from eccentric pastime to enironmental sentinel. He became co-editor of Bee Craft magazine in January 2020. With a degree in land use, beekeeping has kept him in touch with environmental issues throughout his career which has focussed on other subject areas. Today, he has seven overwintering colonies across three apiaries ( including an observation hive in his home office) so that he can observe the fascinating diversity of honey bees in different habitats. He lives in north Hampshire, in sight of Watership Down – which just happens to be a fine example of a drone congregation area.

Virtual Bee Health Workshop 2021
2021-04-22 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line
Virtual Bee Health Workshop 2021
Workshop Speakers:
Tom Williamson – Senior Bee Inspector (DAERA). Overview and Update of NI
Bee Health and Current Challenges
Megan Seymour – Master Beekeeper. How to Make Healthy
Increase. Practical Hints and Tips for Queen Rearing
Date / Details
Thursday 22nd April at 7:30pm via Zoom
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.usmeetingregistertZIofuyqqTovG9X2OLx7KSc56JOmbaaGtcjl
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information
about how to join the meeting.

Lecture: Practical Queen Rearing
2021-04-21 20:00 - 21:30 | On-Line
In this IBAclg webinar, PJ Curran will give guidance on rearing queens.
Covered in the webinar
Why rear Queens?
Best time to start?
Equipment needed?
Methods, Ben Harden system, Cloake Board, Jenter- Cup Kit, Grafting, Incubator, Apideas
Timetable and Planner
Hive Records & Selection

EWBA Facebook page to book..limit of 100 places

Lecture: Reactive Swarm Control: Wally Shaw
2021-04-15 19:00 - 21:00 | On-Line
About this Event

Re-active Swarm Control
This talk covers the methods of management that can be used to deal with colonies that have started queen cells ie when pre-emptive swarm control has failed. Artificial swarming is the method that can be used if the colony has not already issued a prime swarm. If the prime swarm has already departed there are other methods that can be used to prevent cast swarming and further loss of bees. The talk includes an explanation of the Snelgrove II (modified) method.

Introduction to Beekeeping Course: Lecture 6
2021-04-06 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Pre-Emptive Swarm Control
2021-04-01 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
Get ready your colonies ready before swarm season and keep your bees!

Introduction to Beekeeping Course: Lecture 5
2021-03-30 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Lecture: Setting up an Apidea...Jim Agnew
2021-03-24 19:30 - 21:30 | On-Line
Our next webinar is with Jim Agnew who will speak on the subject of Apidea mating hives on 24th March at 7:30 pm. This virtual talk is designed for everyone, from those just thinking about queen rearing to those with years of experience. Jim will talk on how to set up the Apidea, how to manage it, and even how to use it for subsequent queens. As many of you know, a number of queen-rearing groups have been set up across the country with the goal of spreading good quality native Irish bee queens, which will hopefully produce a large number, so this is a golden opportunity to learn how you might take advantage of a virgin queen or a queen cell from these groups.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/…/jim-agnew-presents-managing…

Introduction to Beekeeping Course: Lecture 4
2021-03-23 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Lecture: Reading the Combs. Randy Oliver
2021-03-18 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
Reading the combs; Understanding the Biology over the course of the season

Introduction to Beekeeping Course: Lecture 3
2021-03-16 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Lecture: Rearing Queens better than those you buy. Jonathan Getty
2021-03-10 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Lecture: Freebees - bait hives for profit and pleasure - talk given by David Evans
2021-03-10 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
About this Event

Starting with a brief overview of honey bee colony reproduction David will cover the role of scout bees in identifying a new nest site, the process of swarming, bivouacking and then relocation to the chosen location. After a brief digression into capturing swarms he will discuss setting up bait hives, the choice of box, its location and contents. This covers both scientific studies and how these findings can best be applied to practical beekeeping. Discussion of the contents of bait hive necessitates another digression into building and using foundationless frames, which offer particular benefits for bait hives. The talk closes with a discussion of what you can expect to observe when scout bees find and favour your bait hive, and the things you need to do having attracted a swarm – these include moving it somewhere else and managing the Varroa that also arrive with the swarm.

About the speaker
David Evans is Professor of Virology at the University of St Andrews and has held previous academic posts in Warwick, Glasgow and Reading. He is a member of Fife BKA, the East of Scotland BKA and Lochaber BKA and also currently writes the monthly Q&A column for the BBKA Newsletter. He has been a beekeeper for more than a decade and manages about 20 colonies for research and pleasure. David writes a weekly blog post The Apiarist . In this he covers a diverse range of topics from the principles and practice of beekeeping to the science behind the biology of honey bees and their pathogens. His beekeeping interests include very amateur DIY and queen rearing. His honey bee research includes studies of the biology and control of deformed wing virus, rational Varroa control and the emergence and management of chronic bee paralysis virus.

Introduction to Beekeeping Course: Lecture 2
2021-03-09 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line

Committe Meeting
2021-03-08 19:00 - 21:00 | On-Line

Lecture: Understanding Varroa Resistant Bees. Professor Stephen Martin
2021-03-04 19:00 - 21:00 | On-Line
Understand the evolution of natural Varroa-tolerance mechanisms in various beekeeping populations.

About this Event

Since the arrival of the Varroa mite from Asia, millions of honey bee colonies have died. For decades, beekeepers have continued to control Varroa populations by the use of chemicals and other invasive methods. However, throughout Africa and most of South and Central America mite-infested colonies survive without any form of mite-control. This has been linked with poor mite reproduction, although what causes this has remained unknown. Throughout, Europe the USA and Wales an increasing number of naturally evolved, mite-tolerant colonies are been discovered. The talk will discuss the various tolerant mechanisms and how honey bee populations in Brazil, Africa, USA and UK all appear to have evolved similar ways to combat the Varroa mite.
Professor Stephen Martin of the University of Salford
Stephen has studied social insects (bees, wasps, termites and ants) for most of his career. His areas of specialisation are the ‘hornet ecology’, ‘pest and diseases of honeybees’ and ‘chemical ecology of ants’. He holds a Chair in Social Entomology in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at Salford University, Manchester. Prior to that he spent 12 years working at Sheffield University, 7 years with the National Bee Unit and 7 years in Japan conducting research into hornets.
Stephen is best known for his work on the Varroa mite and its association with viruses, especially the Deformed Wing Virus, but more recently his expertise in hornet biology is in demand, both nationally and internationally. His team of researchers at Salford, funded in part by beekeepers, are using the very latest molecular methods to read the genetic code of the DWV virus. The aim is to understand why some honey bee colonies have become naturally tolerant to Varroa and see if this information can provide beekeepers with a long-term solution to the problem.

Lecture : Its all in the Jelly! Richard Noel
2021-03-03 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
A talk about Queen Rearing and the Cell Builder with Richard Noel

Lecture: It's all in the jelly! A talk about Queen Rearing and the Cell Builder with Richard Noel
2021-03-03 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
About this Event

As promised, Cambridge Beekeepers are delighted to welcome back Richard Noel from his home in Brittany to talk to us about queen rearing and the cell builder!

Richard loves queen rearing. “There is nothing more satisfying than raising your own queens with your own resources”.
From the many methods, Richard prefers the Mike Palmer method of the 10 over 10 cell builder box. In this talk he will go through the process he uses to produce super queens, with their cells still full of Royal jelly on the day they are born. Topics will include genetic selection, grafting, raising the queens from start to finish, drone colonies and subsequent mating.
Richard will demonstrate just how easy it is to raise good queens that can outperform any queens that you can buy and which are completely suited to your own area. His ethos is for everyone to completely understand the process which will enable anyone to raise queens in their individual situation, whatever size apiary and whatever resources they have. From 2nd or 3rd year beekeeper to the more experienced, this talk will help you in some way!

About the speaker
Richard was born and brought up in Jersey but moved to France 18 years ago. He began his life in Brittany as a landscape gardener but soon moved onto beekeeping and now he has over 200 production colonies, 100 nucs and roughly 60 mini mating nucs.
Not only is Richard a burgeoning bee farmer but he is a single parent to 3 children.
He writes a blog and has a strong media presence. You can find him on Instagram and Twitter as well as subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Introduction to Beekeeping Course 2021: Lecture 1
2021-03-02 19:30 - 21:00

Lecture: Recognising and Addressing Queen Events
2021-03-01 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
Live webinar with Dr Jamie Ellis

Lecture: Preparing for the Beekeeping Year Ahead. Stewart Spinks
2021-02-24 19:00 - 20:30 | On-Line
Stewart Spinks is from the Norfolk Honey Company and has many educational videos on YouTube

Committee Meeting
2021-02-19 19:00 - 21:00

lecture: Reactive Swarm Control with Wally Shaw
2021-02-19 08:00 - 17:00 | On-Line
This is the second of our talks about swarms and swarming this season and looks at what to do when queen cells appear…

About this Event

Re-active Swarm Control
This talk covers the methods of management that can be used to deal with colonies that have started queen cells ie when pre-emptive swarm control has failed. Artificial swarming is the method that can be used if the colony has not already issued a prime swarm. If the prime swarm has already departed there are other methods that can be used to prevent cast swarming and further loss of bees. The talk includes an explanation of the Snelgrove II (modified) method.
Wally Shaw
My wife (Jenny) and I have been keeping bees for 30 years – a joint activity in which we are equal partners. We started beekeeping in order to provide pollination for a newly planted orchard. One hive grew into two, then four and eventually into 50 in six apiaries. This escalation in number of colonies was mainly driven by a fascination with the honey bee. We are both ex-research ecologists and beekeeping became a sort of second (unpaid) career. Yes, we do make honey and it does provide a small income stream (in good years) which more or less covers the cost of the obsession. Apart from our initial colony, which was purchased from a local beekeeper of our acquaintance, we have never purchased another colony or a queen but from the outset made our own by splitting hives or collecting swarms. We are fortunate on Anglesey having had for many years only a trickle of bees from other sources coming onto the island so by virtue of natural selection we do have a locally adapted bee – which not the case everywhere in Wales.
The part of beekeeping with which we initially had the greatest problem was swarm control but over the years we have come to a better understand what is involved. I have written two booklets for the Welsh Beekeepers Association (WBKA) which have been delivered FREE to all members. Their titles are ‘There are queen cells in my hive – what should I do?’ and ‘An Apiary Guide to Swarm Control’. Both are available on the WBKA website and can be downloaded FREE of charge. Both booklets have also been published by Northern Bee Books and are available from them and on the internet.

Lecture: Why are Queens Failing?
2021-02-18 20:00 - 21:30 | On-Line
Why are Queens Failing?
with Jeff Pettis
Are your queens not living as long as in the past? Do your colonies fail to
Re-queen themselves after a swarm leaves or when you expect a queenless nuc
to rear a new queen? Queen problems are on the increase and Jeff will cover
some basic queen and colony biology and discuss some of the many things that
could be involved in why queens fail.

Lectures: Geographic Origin and Authenticity of UK Honey Samples and Flower Power – The Science of Pollination. CABK
2021-02-15 19:00 - 21:00 | On-Line
Lecturer 1: Ayla Paul, University of Reading

Geographic Origin and Authenticity of UK Honey Samples

Ayla is now completing her PhD thesis and will speak about her research on the origin and authenticity of UK honey samples. She will give insights of the various methods – mass spectrometry, trace element (geology) analysis and pollen analysis – that she uses to develop an “Isoscape” for the UK. Is it possible to determine the geographic origins?

Lecturer 2 : Hamish Symington, University of Cambridge

Hamish Symington

Flower Power – The Science of Pollination
Hamish explores how pollination works, how much of our food relies on insects, and how research at the university’s Department of Plant Sciences aims to make flowers more efficient at being pollinated, thus helping to feed the projected 2050 global population of 10 billion people.

Lecture: Swarm Control
2021-02-11 20:00 - 21:30 | On-Line
Swarm Control
with Ged Marshall
Swarm control without the nine day checks . . .
how to survive the Summer without repeatedly inspecting the brood chambers
and still get large yields.

Lecture: Queen Management Essentials
2021-02-03 20:00 - 21:30 | On-Line
Queen Management Essentials
with Juliana Rangel
How to manage queens successfully including some of the common causes of
queen problems. Juliana will show us how to determine whether a queen is
aging appropriately and if her colony is doing well, or if she is failing and it is
time to replace her with a new, more vigorous queen. Good detective work in
the hive will increase our chances of managing productive, healthy colonies.

Lecture: Nutritional requirement and supplemental feeding
2021-01-28 19:30 - 21:00 | On-Line
Marin Anastasov talk: Nutritional requirement and supplemental feeding
Nutrition is a basic biological need and the pre-requisite for a healthy and productive colony.
Carbohydrates provide bees with the energy for flight, movement and heat, while protein, fats, vitamins and minerals are needed for the growth, function and development of the colony.
This talk will cover the importance of different nutrients to both individual bees and to the colony and will look at the different types of feed required at different times of the year. It will describe when, how, and what to feed bees, the different types of food available, and the various types of feeders.

About Marin Anastasov, NDB
Marin started beekeeping in his teens and developed his initial beekeeping knowledge and skills while studying towards BSc in Animal Science in Bulgaria. Later, he completed an MSc in Organic Farming at Aberdeen University. He is passionate about sustainable food production and his entire working career has been in organic food and farming. Marin is a Master Beekeeper and gained his NDB in 2017. He currently manages 30 colonies in Gloucestershire.
Marin is Trustee of Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association and is the Chairman on the BBKA Examinations Board. He is an assessor for the Basic, General Husbandry and Advanced Husbandry certificates and has contributed to the development and running of the General Husbandry and Advanced Husbandry training programmes for the BBKA. Marin is co-author and led the implementation of the BBKA Certificate in Honey Bee Breeding, including providing the training and support to both future candidates and assessors.

Lecture: Landscape and Bees
2021-01-27 20:00 - 21:30 | On-Line
Wednesday 27th January, 8pm
Landscape and Bees
with Jane Stout
Bees are highly mobile organisms and use different habitats in the landscape for
feeding, nesting, mating and overwintering. The diversity and arrangement of
different types of habitat, and its quality in terms of providing resources for bees,
affects how bees can live in and use landscapes. Jane will discuss how we can use
our knowledge in this area to manage landscapes for bees
