Swarm Workshop

A huge thanks to everyone who joined us for this morning’s swarm workshop — with around 30 members attending!
A special shoutout to the Education Team — especially Sam and Jane — for sharing their invaluable tips, videos, and guidance and to Lauren for the tech support.
It was interesting to see a traditional skep in action for swarm collection, videos of our members collecting swarms and hearing their strong focus on safety for both beekeepers and the public.
For us new-bees, it was incredibly helpful to make note of what we need to know before collecting a swarm, what gear to bring to the swarm collection, how to safely transport the honey bees and how to give them the best chance of survival. Many of us now feel far more confident about collecting a swarm ourselves!
We also picked up some brilliant techniques from our experienced members — from the classic ‘dustpan and brush’ method to placing a nuc on top of a privet hedge to encourage the swarm upward with a little smoke.
Several members would like to gain more hands-on experience, so don’t forget you can request to shadow and assist an experienced swarm collector. If you’re interested in receiving a collected swarm, contact the B&DBKA Swarm Coordinator(swarm.birmingham@wbka.org.uk) to be added to the list (This is for members only)

Swarm in Oldbury

I was called out to this swarm on a cold and Drizzly day in August of 2024. I thought it would be straight  forward as the bees were on the floor.The bees were very lethargic and were hardly moving.I managed to coax them into a nuc box.I turned around and I noticed a further cluster of bees on the wall behind me.
I thought it could have been two cast swarms but I didn’t think so.
At this point,the homeowner came out and said “I have bees just behind the house in my garden” I asked if he had checked for queen cells recently and he said no.I asked if he wanted the swarm and this was also a no.
I collected the rest of the bees on the wall and took them to one of our members in Quinton.
This swarm needed to be collected quickly as lots of people were passing by to get home or to Langley train station.
Post by – Richard James

Pollen Analysis & Honey Tasting Morning 3/11/24

A question that is guaranteed to come up from members of the public who buy honey from local beekeepers is “what have the bees been feeding on”? It is easy to answer if you are looking at rolling fields of lavender that stretch for miles in front of you or sitting in the Highlands of Scotland watching haggis roam through a Glen of heather. It is not so easy in an urban environment .This is where two of our members stepped into help.
They came with all sorts of specialist kit that included microscopes (where you could see pollen on a digital display)pipettes,slides,analysing trays and various mixing solutions. Winterbourne Horticultural Centre was transformed into a mini science lab for the morning.
The honey was mixed in one of these solutions and then span in a centrifuge to separate the pollen which was then put under a microscope for analysis. It was fascinating seeing some of the different shapes of the pollen.
Some of the plants that we identified were: ivy, dogwood, bramble, mint, astrantia and potentilla.
During the analysing ,we had the toaster on the go and we tried various types of honey on fresh toast with “proper butter”.
It was a really interesting way to spend a Saturday morning.

Re-Homing Bee Colonies

One of our members contacted us to ask if we could help in the removal of a couple of colonies of bees that hadn’t been opened for about 2-3 years. The beekeeper had sadly become allergic to bee venom.
Jane and Nathaniel  went to take a look a couple of weeks ago. One colony was long dead & when they finally got into the second colony, the bees were calm & apart from a bit of sac brood surprisingly healthy. (Lots of wax moth, spiders & dirty comb)
Yesterday was phase 2.The colony & kit  were moved to Winterborne Gardens. The aim is to demo a Bailey comb change in the spring & move them into standard national boxes. Assuming the queen has survived the move she might be good for breeding as the colony is calm & varroa tolerant (untreated for 3 years).
Toby has donated all his kit: feeders, supers, smoker, suit, 2 complete hives to the association- it needs lots of cleaning & maintenance but it a good addition to our kit.
Hopefully there will be fewer swarms in Bearwood now!!

Buckfast Abbey

I emailed the Abbey and Clare who runs the bee education centre said I could pop and feed the bees with her. She does the Q&A for Beecraft. They don’t have Buckfast bees anymore! She explained why she prefers the ‘mongrels’
I anticipated an exhibit on breeding and a narrative of Brother Adam,s work but there was no mention of him around the grounds and if I hadn’t inquired, Buckfast bees wouldn’t have been mentioned. Brother Adams bees had AFB, and he tried to keep it a secret, he had 3 nervous breakdowns for the romanticism of his role and then he had to burn 17 colonies.
Clare sympathetically debunked the idealised portrayal of Brother Adam, but was very informative on the history of the apiary. She has an interesting take on the role of a beekeeper (of course!) and working with the bees, which is the focus of her new book. She has a strong knowledge of the monastery and the community and is keen to focus on education and not commercial honey production for the abbey. She explained that Br Adam gained his role when his asthma prevented his 11 year old lungs from fulfilling the role his German mother envisaged for him as a Benedictine Stone mason, so he moved to shadow the cook who was the beekeeper. His organisation and stubbornness made beekeeping his passion, and ultimately he became a romanticised persona. When he was dying the abbey told him they wouldn’t carry on with his work which devastated him.  Clare took over 3 years ago, as she was approached by the abbey as a local beekeeper. She runs workshops for SEND adults and children, ex service therapy sessions, zooms and educational days/weekends. She said it’s a Benedictine mission to educate and be charitable, so she invited me! She stated that her friend who is the optician in the village, travelled with Br Adam to South Africa and he apparently exaggerated and chose evidence to support his opinion which wasn’t accurate (misidentified bees). He also thought the Buckfast bees were immune to the Isle of White disease but made errors with his outcomes. Quirky insights and very interesting but not what I expected.
I’ve got some cut comb for us to try on Saturday from her bees. She also gave me a lovely tour of the abbey and grounds and showed me her spinning and storage unit. She’s writing a book which she’s going to send a copy to for the association. Lovely afternoon!
Lauren

“DAD’s LANE ALLOTMENT OPEN DAY

During the summer Birmingham Beekeepers we’re to be seen at the Open Day for Dad’s Lane Allotments. Despite some rain, the event was very well attended and happily there was great interest in the bees.
The Observation hive was an enormous success, particularly with the children, who enjoyed looking for, and finding, the Queen and watching as her attendants groomed and fed her. Many were quite fascinated. They asked lots of wonderful questions about bees, which we really enjoyed answering. For some children, being able to see the bees safely was quite magical and some of them returned several times to watch again and bring their friends.
There was equal enthusiasm from adults, with one or two hinting at being would-be beekeepers! So we were able to give advice on courses.
There was a very popular and successful table selling honey and also a corner devoted to information and advice on the Asian Hornet, with people realising that it’s not just a bee problem, but that almost all pollinators are affected.
It was a pleasure to attend the event and also, (a happy bonus), to enjoy the delicious cakes and savouries provided by some excellent cooks”

Sandwell Shape Festival 14th July 2024

It was well organised, we had tables and chairs provided for us.  We didn’t have any cover but the weather turned out well with only a few drops of rain.  We were in the Nature/Family zone and there was a lot of interest in the observation hive from the public and especially the children.  We promoted our Honey Show and also the threat of the Asian Hornet. And gave out information on both.  Vesna and Maarten came too and sold a few jars of their honey.
We  managed well
between us, having a couple of short breaks.  It was a long day so more volunteers would have been great.  Jan had an allocated parking space not too far from the site so we were able to unload the car and move it to the car park.  There was music, food stalls, free handouts, drumming, a fun fair and even an opportunity to help paint and build a dragon which was paraded around at the close of the zone.  The organises came round regularly to see how we were and to thank us for participating.  They are very keen to have us back.
Sue

Skittles Night

Last Friday(17/5/24) was our branch skittles night at the Selly Park Tavern. After a long wait, we were all ready for a night of fun. Ian ran the competition and he started off with the individual round which Lauren won. She declined her prize .Following this was the team knockout stage that was won by Ian’s team comprising of Ian, Barbara, Colin, Clare and Anne. Each of them were presented with a box of  M&S biscuits. The buffet was served at 8 (not  for those on a low carb diet!) and Tim provided the music.

AGM February 2024

This years AGM was made extra special as some of our long serving branch Committee members decided to pass on the committee torch to others (after many years service between them) We presented each of them with a personal, engraved hive tool and a special commemorative gift .
Sam Walker joined the committee in approximately 2017 where she was the newsletter editor until 2019.She then became president of the branch from 2020-2022.Sam then had a year as our swarm coordinator in 2023 and is now concentrating on her own apiary, teaching bee courses and she is currently our branch Asian Hornet co-ordinator.
John Gale has been with the committee for many years and he has done the vast majority of committee roles. He made sure that every month we had a copy of the newsletter. He could often be found in the stores, mending or replacing equipment. John was also our branch swarm coordinator and more recently our honey show manager.
Sharif Khan joined the branch approximately 16 or 17 years ago .He became the president in 2015 and he then moved on to become the treasurer. In 2023 he stepped up and became the acting honey show manager he co ordinated the volunteers ensuring the success of the event.
Jane Nimmo (seen here collecting her  module 5, honey bee biology certificate) has been our education co-ordinator for approximately 4 years. She  ran lots of training courses, queen rearing sessions  and is always encouraging people to take their basic bee assessment. Jane is currently the secretary for the Wbka.
Many thanks on behalf of the B&DBKA for the tireless work they have all done for the branch

HONEY SHOW VOLUNTEERS BARGE TRIP 11/11/23

On a brisk November afternoon, some of the people that volunteered during the Honey show came aboard the good barge “Victoria” for a 2 hour cruise down from Gas Street Basin. Did you know Venice has more gondolas down the canal than Birmingham? The sun was very welcoming, the rain held off and although bee talk was banned during the trip, im sure the ban was lifted on several occasions! A lovely buffet was put on for us .The slightly metallic taste to the pasta was added by Tim who dropped his keys in it(not really .They were found under the table) We had a bit of a sing along as DJ TIm played the tunes for the trip.
After this “do”, some of us ended up in the Tap and Spile. It was a really enjoyable afternoon and evening.