News

•

 I recently became Chairman of the High Weald Beekeeper’s Association, at the AGM Iast November (2017) in fact, and this is by way of a brief introduction. I do put this elevation purely down to deafness and incipient senility, such that when Helen, my predecessor, asked for volunteers to take a step forward, I must have been thinking about something else at the time, when everyone else took several steps backwards.

For those of you who don’t know me already, I took up beekeeping about 7 years ago, after an apiary visit with our very good friend Rosemarie Riley, where I was charmed by these fascinating little miracles of nature, the bees, and it was then I got the ‘bug’ …….a lame joke you’ve all heard far too often I’m sure. Shortly thereafter I bought some bees, did Keith’s most excellent course, struggled through my first two seasons of hot springs and cold wet summers but haven’t looked back since.

I was not only charmed by the bees, in fact, but also quite taken by the rather special folk who take care of bees, and, ever a soft touch for a good cause, I gradually became involved in the work of the committee. These are the special folk who try to take care of the people who try to take care of the bees, by laying on courses, taster days, offering expert help and advice 24/7, social occasions, collecting swarms, and by managing this website—all a considerable amount of work and a huge commitment. Talking of which, this website was the first task I picked up on behalf on the committee. Since then I have become involved in various other activities the committee support on behalf of the membership. Talking of which again, the membership, through the good auspices of the committee,  has grown considerably over the years such that the HWBKA are now the largest of the divisions within the Sussex Beekeeping Association.

We have a comprehensive range of activities planned again for this year, the beginners’ course, taster days, improvers’ group events, Bee Banter—our monthly support group in the pub, the summer barbeque, the honey show, talks, candle-making workshop, local fairs and fetes, our newsletter—The Apiarist and, no doubt, others which may come to light as the year proceeds. Please keep checking the events calendar on this website for times, dates and venues.

One new significant activity this year will be the drive to get a new permanent Association Apiary, with, hopefully a club house with appropriate facilities for storage, extraction and so on. Several possible locations have been identified and visited and fund raising to equip it has commenced in earnest. This will improve life for all concerned with organising events, rather than having to book halls and rely on the generosity of members to host events such as apiary visits etc.

We would welcome any suggestions for other events you would like to see, or any offers of assistance with those already arranged.

We wish all our members and friends a happy successful beekeeping year.

Peter Coxon

•

38Deg1

 

 

Thanks to you, British bees can breathe a tiny sigh of relief. The government’s decided to keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides. [1] They’ve listened to the science, and the hundreds of thousands of us who were speaking up for our bees.

There’s a sting in the tail though. The powerful lobbyists who want the ban lifted aren’t giving up. They’ve said they’re “committed” to getting a yes from the government. [2] They could make another application within weeks. We need to be ready.

But when they try to get their way again, we won’t know. We won’t even get to see the evidence they give to back up their arguments. Because right now the entire process is done in secret. No public consultation or scrutiny allowed. [3]

Please sign the open letter to Environment Minister Liz Truss now, demanding transparency. The more we know about the danger to bees, the more we can do to stop it:38Deg2Last year when they were deciding whether to let bee-killing pesticides back on UK fields, the government gagged their own experts. And made the final decision behind closed doors. The only reason that together we found out in time to stop them was because a concerned MP, Barry Gardiner, pushed to learn what was going on, and told 38 Degrees members. [4]

And we were ready:

  • 250,000 of us signed the petition to keep bee-killing pesticides off UK fields. We delivered every name to government ministers last week, just before the decision was made.
  • Thousands of us emailed our MPs to make sure they had copies of our hard hitting report proving last year’s decision was wrong. And we delivered it directly into the hands of the government’s expert advisors.
  • We caused a buzz on social media when tens of thousands of us tweeted the government ministers making the decision on bee-killing pesticides.
  • Then amazingly, almost a hundred MPs came to listen to a panel of experts at our event in Parliament last week. [5]

38 Degrees members have got the truth out. But lobbyists are going to keep coming up with new reasons to get around the ban. Don’t let them get away with it. Sign the open letter to expose the truth behind any new application now:38Deg2Thanks for being involved,

Maddy, Amy, Rachel and the 38 Degrees team

PS: Bees will be feasting on a buffet of wildflowers this summer. Up and down the country, thousands of 38 Degrees members are planting wildflowers in our gardens, schools and allotments. You can join in and order your seeds here:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bee-seed-ordering

NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Ministers reject plan for 'emergency' use of banned bee-harming pesticides:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/mps-vote-against-emergency-use-of-banned-bee-harming-pesticides
This is advice from the government’s pesticide advisors, UK Expert Committee on Pesticides. It says that “the applications do not meet the criteria for an emergency authorisation”:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523047/ecp-ministers-advice-1605.pdf
[2] NFU online: NFU to continue with neonicotinoids application:
http://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/nfu-to-continue-with-neonicotinoids-application/
[3] The government keeps the details of applications to lift the ban on bee-killing pesticides secret from MPs and the public. Add on top of that last year the government gagged their own experts, then made the final decision behind closed doors just before MPs went on summer holiday and it means there’s a huge lack of scrutiny.
[4] Barry Gardiner submitted a ‘written question’ to Liz Truss, the Environment Minister, in a bit to get her to reveal whether any applications to lift the ban had been made. She was forced to admit (at the end of April) that two applications were being assessed:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-04-19/34699/
[5] 38 Degrees Blog: 38 Degrees members are standing up for the bees in 2016:
https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/902

•

WINNER OF THE VERA BECVAR HONEY CUP – Peter Coxon

CLASS ONE - Clear Honey - Open

1st – Peter Coxon
2nd – Steve & Clare Adams
3rd – Malcolm Wilkie
Highly Commended – John Preston

CLASS TWO - Set Honey - Open

1st – Elizabeth Missen
2nd - Helen Searle
3rd – Chris Chandler
Highly Commended – John Preston

CLASS THREE - Cut Comb - Open

1st – Helen Hadley
2nd - Brian Hopper
Highly Commended – John Lyte

CLASS FOUR - Clear or Set Honey - Novice

2 entries – added to Open Classes

CLASS FIVE - Cakes or Confectionery

1st – Malcolm Wilkie
2nd – Chris Chandler
3rd – David Tasker

CLASS SIX - Biscuits

1st – John Preston
2nd – Samantha Bowles
3rd – Amanda Savage

CLASS SEVEN - Preserves & Mead

1st – Robert Stovell

CLASS EIGHT - Dipped Candle

1st – Johannes Blummel

CLASS NINE - Moulded Candle

1st – Johannes Blummel
2nd – Chris Chandler

CLASS TEN - Any other Wax, Pollen or Propolis Product

1st – Johannes Blummel
2nd – Amanda Savage

CLASS TEN - Handmade Beekeeping item (Voted by the Attendees of the AGM)

1st - Helen Hadley

 

•

Buxted Village Fete and HWBKA's participation was a great success.
The last Buxted Fete was sometime ago in 2009, however the newly invigorated organising committee did a really great job; there were many exhibits and the event was very well attended.

We had a prime spot near the entrance, and Rosie and I were truly inundated the whole time.
The Observation Hive was a real draw, and drew people in like bees to honey ........ and the taster pots also drew bees in like bees to honey.  However, no one panicked and no one got stung. It was in fact a great way to demonstrate to folks how gentle bees are when people aren't flapping their arms about.
Talking of honey, 26 jars were bought by the Buxtodians.
We also had lots of folk expressing serious interest in keeping bees and in doing courses with HWBKA.

The stars of the show are now tucked up in their winter residence, for a well deserved feed, and a rest.

•

Subject: Report of French visit

IMG_3666This year there were five couples who came over from France for the weekend just before the bank holiday in August.
It was a busy weekend but much enjoyed by all the participants.
On the Friday Maggie Whittaker had organised a visit of the gardens at Great Dixter. We were given a superb tour of the gardens by one of the gardeners and this was enjoyed by many of the French participants. We also briefly went down into the meadow area to look at the one beehive that is kept at Great Dixter.
After that several of us went to Hastings and fish and chips were bought for the French party. I am not sure that this was the best culinary experience they have had but, because of it, I don't think they will ever forget their brief visit to Hastings.
On Saturday there was a visit to LASI at Sussex University. The research done at Sussex University proved to be extremely interesting to Christophe and it led to much discussion about the late summer treatment of honeybee colonies. We discovered how they tried to breed hygienic queen bees at Sussex.
We stopped in Buxted for lunch in the garden of Chris Blandford. Glorious weather and a beautiful landscaped garden with a lake.
Later on that afternoon we were given a wonderful welcome at Iwood Place by Jonathan Coote. Jonathan speaks good French and we found out about his 123 method of swarm control. We also had the opportunity to look at one of his hives and talk about his use of lactic acid to keep his bees clear of varroa. Shirley gave us a wonderful tea and the whole experience was enjoyed by everybody.
On Sunday I had left time for hosts to look at their bees with their French guests. Heavy rain meant that the lunch we were going to have at the trout farm in Rotherfield had to be transferred to my house in Crowborough. A big thank you to all the hosts who cooked and provided salads, desserts,sauces and all sorts of goodies. I think all the French had a cracking time.

Malcolm Wilkie