Wharfedale Beekeepers Association
Keeping Bees in Wharfedale since 1921
On 13th April, Carl Prosser, a licensed Asian Hornet tracker gave a presentation to WBKA members in Skipton. Carl has kindly shared his presentation with us. It mostly discusses the experience of trying to deal with the hornet in Jersey but is full of useful information and lessons for anyone facing this threat.
You can CLICK HERE to download a copy of Carl’s presentation.
WBKA is part of the UK-wide effort to track and resist the spread of the Asian Hornet, an invasive species which threatens to devastate the UK population of honey bees and other pollinators. A major predator of honeybees, the hornet is also known to eat many other species of pollinators including flies and wasps.
The best way to report a possible Asian Hornet sighting is to use the Asian Hornet Watch App, available from the links below.
more information including identification and locations of sightings:
Recent research can now explain how a small number of beekeepers managed to keep bees after stopping Varroa treatment 10 or more years ago. Combining the experience of these beekeepers with the latest research will allow many more beekeepers to manage their bees without the need to control Varroa. This website gives you free access to all the scientific knowledge and advice and tips from beekeepers willing to share their expertise.
“Bees and other critical pollinators are being endangered simply to grow slightly cheaper sugar.”
You can see the results of the 2023 Honey Show on the website here. Or you can navigate to them by going to the Events menu.
As well as the results we also have Gill’s notes on the judging process and tips for submitting your entries. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who contributed to this years’ show.
This year’s Honey Show and AGM will be held at Ilkley Rugby Club on Friday 10th November, starting at 7:00pm. The Agenda and other documents can be downloaded using the links below.
To help you find specific content on this site I’ve added a Search option in the menu above.
If you search for a specific term/phrase it will show a list of the pages where that text can be found.
In the April 2023 BBKA News Andrew Durham from Cambridgeshire BKA reviews the current situation regarding Asian hornets in France and concludes that…
“When and wherever the Asian hornet gets a foothold over here, it will happen quicker than you think, and it is going to be worse than you think. That much is already clear from what has happened across the Channel over the last eighteen years”
He has prepared some briefing notes, which include information about methods for reducing the impact of the hornets on bee colonies, you can access these by using the links below.
Asian Hornet The Beekeepers’ Guide – Integrated Control in the Apiary
Asian Hornet Beekeepers Guide – The Hornet & The Honey Bee
Asian Hornet Beekeepers Guide – Integrated Control in the Area Around the Apiary
For 2023 we have restructured our beginners’ training. The course is in three parts:
Early summer: Taster session at an association apiary
Throughout the summer: Apiary visits with an experienced beekeeper
Autumn/Winter: Theory Course
We are now booking places for the Taster session, for more information and sign-up form, see our Learn About Beekeeping page.
A message from Linda Schofield at BBKA:
Officers are often asked to supply members with their membership numbers, for a variety of reasons, including for example access to the BBKA News Archive. We have now set up a simple link to enable members to be informed by email of their membership number Retrieve Member Number. This link will send an email to the member if they are an active (or awaiting renewal) member on eR2.