Improve Your Bees-Simply in 2013

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

A one day course in the company of Roger Patterson:

Stock improvement is important for beekeepers, but many are happy to continue to keep poor bees, probably because they are unaware of the improvements that can be made or how easy they can be. This one day course will discuss topics such as assessing colonies, simple criteria we can assess e.g. temper and calmness on the comb and how we can raise queens using simple and well-tried methods that suit all beekeepers, including those with only a few colonies. The content of the event will vary depending on the number of attendees and if the weather is favourable it may be possible to demonstrate assessing colonies, so please bring protective clothing. Entry is by ticket only and numbers will be limited to ensure everyone has a beneficial day. Please book early to ensure you are not disappointed.
A lot of you will already know Roger and many more will have heard of him!
Roger has been keeping and observing bees since 1963 and tries to help beekeepers keep improving their beekeeping method to get better bees and encourages them to enjoy their hobby. A lot of Rogers’ methods won’t be found in books and so this is an ideal opportunity to meet the man and learn from his wealth of experience. This is sure to be an excellent day for both beginner and experienced beekeeper alike.
Venue: University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk.
Date: Saturday 6th April 2013 10am – 4pm
Cost: £20 including Refreshments and Lunch.
For more details please email [B][email protected][/B]


Stewart

 

[victor meldrew]

LEY LINES or Matchsicks Or both ??

VM

 

[rolande]

LEY LINES or Matchsicks Or both ??

VM

nah, probably going to concentrate on culling queens which need more than a single BS brood chamber.

 

[victor meldrew]

VM

 

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Am I missing something?

 

[rolande]

Am I missing something?

I suppose that that will depend on whether you attend or not...

 

[Chris B]

Am I missing something?

Roger will encourage you to make the best of what you have, and for many that's a National hive and local mongrel bees. If you also breed bees from those that do best in your hives you'll end up with bees that suit those hives. There is merit in that approach. It's not everyones cup of tea but it's a proactive style of beekeeping that beats any reactive style I know of. If you improve your bees by any means you will improve your success.

 

[DanBee]

Fair summary Chris, but it has to be mentioned that Roger's idea of native stock is one that needs no more than a single national brood box; Beowulf Cooper disagreed, noting that natives would occupy two national brood boxes if not constrained by weather, forage, or beekeeper actions.

It's an issue I'm particularly uneasy with because "one national broodbox" is on the slippery slope to a caricature of the breed, not conservation of the breed.

 

[victor meldrew]

Am I missing something?

Roger has a reputation for dabbling with key lines,dowsing and aiming for small colonies
The match stick reference is to do with a once advocated method of improvingi ventilation
VM

 

[mbc]

Good on Roger for trying to educate beekeepers in improving their bees and shame on those of you who scoff ( unless you are equally well respected and give of your time and expertise so generously).

 

[parkranger]

Good on Roger for trying to educate beekeepers in improving their bees and shame on those of you who scoff ( unless you are equally well respected and give of your time and expertise so generously).

 

[rolande]

Good on Roger for trying to educate beekeepers in improving their bees and shame on those of you who scoff ( unless you are equally well respected and give of your time and expertise so generously).

I'm not sure whether this post is levelled at me but if it is please remember that I wrote:

I suppose that that will depend on whether you attend or not...

for a reason.

Do I have any agenda to discourage people from trying to improve their own bees? No. Infact I'm all in favour of trying to improve existing stock by weeding out the (to me) undesirable elements.

Is RPs personal approach one which I aim to emulate in it's entirety? No.

Do I need to be as highly respected as RP to hold my own views? No; and no thinking person is going to tell me that I do.

Would RP agree that only people as well respected as himself can hold views on beekeeping? I doubt it somehow.

 

[mbc]

I'm not sure whether this post is levelled at me but if it is please remember that I wrote:




for a reason.

Do I have any agenda to discourage people from trying to improve their own bees? No. Infact I'm all in favour of trying to improve existing stock by weeding out the (to me) undesirable elements.

Is RPs personal approach one which I aim to emulate in it's entirety? No.

Do I need to be as highly respected as RP to hold my own views? No; and no thinking person is going to tell me that I do.

Would RP agree that only people as well respected as himself can hold views on beekeeping? I doubt it somehow.

Clearly I was only posting "shame on those who scoff" to encourage those who only posted snide, disparaging comments to reflect on their behaviour, equally clearly your post suggesting only those who dont attend would miss something was neither snide, disparaging or scoffing.
I have no problem whatsoever with beekeepers holding different views or of holding different levels of respect within the beekeeping community, I was merely giving my opinion that to unconstructively scoff at someone who is clearly making an effort to improve matters for others is a bit shameful unless coming from a certain position.
Please feel free to ignore or disagree with whats only my personal opinion.

 

[rolande]

To which my only reply can be to apologize for misinterperating your first post.

 

[DanBee]

Clearly I was only posting "shame on those who scoff" to encourage those who only posted snide, disparaging comments to reflect on their behaviour

Well if you look on the BBKA forum (RIP) you'll see that I took him to task directly on the matters that I mentioned. BIBBA were scatter-gunning press releases about local bee breeding groups but gave no substance beyond positive-sounding statements of intent. I had a worry that the objective was "mellifera by the back door" but things have moved on from there, and Roger and I agree that we should be encouraging beekeepers to breed from their best for locally-adapted bees, we just differ about certain techniques and targets, colony size being one of them

 

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Roger has a reputation for dabbling with key lines,dowsing and aiming for small colonies
The match stick reference is to do with a once advocated method of improvingi ventilation
VM

Thanks for the explanation

I'm really happy for Roger to come along to our Society and help improve everyone's understanding and knowledge. It may not suit every beekeeper and every situation but if it gets people thinking about their bees it has to be a good thing.

I'm hoping that it will also encourage local associations to come along and share experiences and knowledge too, we have some really well informed beekeepers in our area and it would be great if they could share some of their knowledge.

All too often I see new beekeepers being told they shouldn't be doing something by some vastly experienced beekeeper who rolls their eyes to the heavens and speaks loudly enough to embarrass said beginner into never asking another question.

30 years of beekeeping doesn't always make a good beekeeper, it can also make a bad beekeeper with 30 yrs of cocking it up and surviving!

 

[itma]

Never met the chap myself.

But whenever his name comes up on the forum, its generally in connection either with ley lines or an insistence that the smoker should be held between the knees during inspections.
But someone claims to recognise him by his trousers ...
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=14593

 

[justme]

Thanks for the explanation

I'm really happy for Roger to come along to our Society and help improve everyone's understanding and knowledge. It may not suit every beekeeper and every situation but if it gets people thinking about their bees it has to be a good thing.

I'm hoping that it will also encourage local associations to come along and share experiences and knowledge too, we have some really well informed beekeepers in our area and it would be great if they could share some of their knowledge.

All too often I see new beekeepers being told they shouldn't be doing something by some vastly experienced beekeeper who rolls their eyes to the heavens and speaks loudly enough to embarrass said beginner into never asking another question.




30 years of beekeeping doesn't always make a good beekeeper, it can also make a bad beekeeper with 30 yrs of cocking it up and surviving!

Well done you:.) Wish I was closer and able to attend. And, I dont care what anyone else thinks!

 

[Luminos]

Roger has a reputation for dabbling with key lines,dowsing and aiming for small colonies
The match stick reference is to do with a once advocated method of improvingi ventilation
VM

Did you mean Key Limes, as in pie?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Did you mean Key Limes, as in pie?

John meant Ley lines, it is just a spelling mistake, thats all.