SBKA - Hastings and Rother Winter Programme

[HaroldC]

Hastings and Rother's Winter programme started yesterday with a workshop from Norman Chapman on Making Beekeeping Equipment.

Norman is Author of 'Constructive Beekeeping' and for many years had a stand at the National Honey Show on Do It Yourself Beekeeping.

Norman described how to make a Solar Wax Extractor. Given the cost of these new this was most welcome. He also covered many aspects of Beeswax. Demonstrating how to wire your own frames - saving money by not buying wired foundation.

We are now looking forward to our next talk on 1st December at 2:30pm which is by Pam Hunter on 'Is Natural always Best?'

Hastings and Rother Division meet at Brightling Village Hall in East Sussex.

 

[HaroldC]

Hastings and Rother Division's Winter Programme continued with a talk from Pam Hunter entitled 'Is Natural always Nice?'.

This was a facinating talk covering a number of areas. We now know how to avoid death by not eating a number of 'Natural' poisons. Natural substances which can be used by Beekeepers were discussed. Questions were asked about 'Natural Beekeeping' which gave rise to a number of interesting observations from the Audience.

The meeting finished as always with Tea and Cakes.

The next meeting is on 12 January 2013 commencing at 2:30pm at Brightling Village Hall. The speaker is Dr Nikki Gammens of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

 

[ellypatt]

Nikki's brilliant, am sure the talk will be interesting.

 

[HaroldC]

Just been advised of the title of Nikki's talk it will be "The Plight of the Bumblebee" - the talk will commence at 2:30pm at Brightling Village Hall, Brightling, East Sussex. Near the church with the Pyramid! This is on 12th January 2013.

 

[HaroldC]

Today we had our talk from Dr Nikki Gammans on the 'Plight of the Bumblebee'. It was a treat to listen to a talk from someone who is so enthusiastic, involved and committed to the understanding of our native bumblebee. She spoke about various bumblebee species which have become extinct.

Nikki has been involved with a project to re-introduce the 'short-haired' bumblebee - this was declared extinct in the UK in 2000. To enable the re-introduction of this species, bumblebee habitats were established in the Dungeness area. Queen 'short haired' bumblebees collected from various overseas locations and released. All seems to be working well.

The customary cup of tea or coffee and biscuits then followed. The Division's library was available for members to borrow books.

We are all looking forward to our next meeting - an evening on this time. Friday 8th February commencing at 7pm. John Hendrie will be speaking on the "Sensory Organs of the Honey Bee". The venue is Brightling Village Hall in East Sussex. All are welcome.

 

[chutalot]

Hi

Sounds like you have a really good Winter Programme - I notice from your website that you have Terry Clare [BIBBA] in March.

This seems to go some way in overcomming the complaints in another thread on this forum in the Autumn of last year. I hope that the person who raised the issues [Der Alte Fritz] has been able to attend and has enjoyed the talks.

Ray

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Hi Ray
No I am afraid I have been unable to attend any of the talks so far since Saturday afternoon is the busiest time of my working week and unlike the summer, business is not so good that I can employ staff to cover for me and have to do the work myself. Am going to make a special effort to get to the Terry Clare one though as he is the mentor of a friend of mine. I have however been able to attend a good number of the talks at Ashford Division which are held at a more convenient (for me,) on Friday evening and I have completed my Basic Assessment Correspondence Course. So this year I am taking the advice of several forum members and joining both Divisions and can attend what I can at either.

Hastings and Rother Division has improved a lot in communicating with its members recently as the Beescene newsletter has started to re-appear, HaroldC has started posting on the Beekeepers forum and the email notifications are now flowing.

One project got off the ground which was the Sussex Association Diary which looks very smart and came out just before the start of the new year. It has all the contact details for Sussex Divisions, all the meeting dates and locations and lots of other useful stuff. I please to say that Strand House was able to sponsor it with a full page ad. Well done.

On the training side, I put my name down for training with both Divisions back in the Autumn and have heard from Ashford but not Hastings and will be starting a Kent/Dover training session in Wye beginning end of January with a six week course on the Basic Assessment with practical mock exam at the end. There may have been verbal announcements at meetings by H&R about training but nothing has come by email or by phone and I did register my interest with the Training Co-ordinator.

 

[HaroldC]

Hi

Good to hear from you. It is always difficult to know the best time for winter meetings. There are some who can attend in the evenings and some in the afternoons. We have a mixture this year [although the mixture includes only one evening meeting]. This year we gave speakers the choice and most choose Saturday afternoons!

On the training note - I understand that the training course details are about to be published.

Glad you like the idea of the diary - this is thanks to our new chairman.

Harold

 

[HaroldC]

Just a quick note about our meeting yesterday evening. Quite a few members braved the cold and dark to come and listen to John Hendrie speak about the "senses of the honey bee" - what an amazing insect!

The talk struck a good balance between the technical and non-technical aspect of the subject. Good information for those studying for module 5!

Our March meeting returns to a Saturday afternoon with Terry Clare [BIBBA] talking about swarming [2nd March] - once again in Brightling Village Hall - by the church with the pyramid!