bog 1

Wharfedale Beekeepers Association

As a follow up to the donation WBKA sent through the Joliba Trust to assist beekeepers in Mali, West Africa, it was decided to send them some images of beekeeping in England. Beekeeping using top bar hives has only recently been introduced there as a way to obtain honey without destroying the colony. The beekeeping project is connected with tree planting and forestry, as shown on the cover of the December 2008 Combings.
Our thanks go to Bruce Speed for preparing the following:

SOME IMAGES OF BEEKEEPING IN ENGLAND

British bees are of the species, Apis melifera although the native British bee has been bred with bees from Italy and Eastern Europe, mainly the Carneolan bee originating in Slovenia.  The majority of beekeepers do so as a hobby, perhaps selling any surplus honey locally.  The following pictures show the equipment and the type of environment in which the bees forage for nectar and pollen.

Beekeeping

This picture shows a small apiary of British National hives (the most common type) within a walled area, which gives them protection from strong winds and sheep, but most hives are kept in the beekeeper’s garden like the ones below.  The hive on the right is double-walled for weather protection, where the white painted outer boxes cover similar boxes to the National hive on the left.  Bees enter the hive at the bottom of the boxes. The beekeeper has removed the roof and is puffing smoke under the crown board, which on this hive is made of clear plastic, before he inspects the colony.

Beekeeping

The picture shows two boxes sitting on a stand with an alighting board at the entrance.  The top one (the “super”) contains surplus honey and the lower one, separated by a queen excluder, is the brood box where the queen lays eggs and there are also stores of honey and pollen to feed the larvae.  When the bees have settled after being smoked, the beekeeper will remove the top box and check the bees in the brood box.   He will look for the queen and judge her strength by the amount of larvae, while looking for any signs of ill health in the colony.  Extra “supers” can be added if there is a lot of honey, and the system enables honey to be collected without destroying any bees.

Beekeeping

The beekeeper stands behind the hive as first fame is removed.  When it is time to collect honey, a one-way bee escape is inserted into the hole in the crown board (shown here lying beside the hive) and the board placed under the “super”.  The bees go down through the escape leaving it free of bees to be taken away for extracting the honey.

Beekeeping

In British hives the eleven frames fill the rectangular shape of the box with a bee-space of 10 mm between, around the sides and below.  The frame shows bees clustering over capped larvae, which is surrounded by open cells of pollen and capped honey.

Beekeeping

When a colony is first stated the beekeeper will have constructed some of the wooden frames into which a sheet of wax foundation has been secured.  This thin sheet of beeswax has been imprinted with the hexagon shape that the bees will draw out into new comb.  The wax has been strengthened with thin stainless steel wire so that it does not collapse when the honey is extracted.  The picture below shows the wire as the bees begin to repair a damaged frame after honey extraction.  Extracted frames are returned to the hive for the bees to repair and refill with honey.

Beekeeping

There are many plants that provide sources of nectar and pollen over several months of the year.  From March, some trees and wild flowers yield pollen and nectar, and from April many wild flowers and garden flowers provide a source of both, as shown in the picture of field and its surrounding of trees.  The trees surrounding this field include sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), and Lime (Tilia) all of which provide good sources of nectar from April to July.  The wild flowers in the foreground mainly flower in June and July.

Garden fruit trees, and many shrubs and flowers also provide pollen and nectar through the spring and summer months.

Beekeeping

Commercially grown crops such as field beans(Vicia faba), borage(borago) and oil seed rape (Brassica species) provide large areas of forage for beekeepers near those fields.  A crop of oil seed rape is shown below.

Beekeeping

Oil seed rape is a common commercial crop in many areas and, with its high sugar content, the nectar is very attractive to bees and they will often work it to the exclusion of other nearby sources of nectar.  However, it presents a problem for the beekeeper because the honey crystalises within a few weeks and will become too hard to extract and difficult for the bees to use for brood food.

In parts of Yorkshire and other areas of Britain where there is heath or high moorland, heather (Erica tetralix and E. cinerea) and Ling (Calluna vulgaris) are useful late summer sources of nectar during August and September.  These low growing shrubs on acid soils produce a particularly good honey that commands a premium price.  The picture below shows a heather moor near Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Beekeeping

Because heather honey is so highly prized, beekeepers will often take their beehives from their usual home to the heather because, even if they do not extract the honey, it provides their colonies with a good store of food for the winter when bees cannot forage.  The colonies shown in the first picture and below have been taken to a site near heather.  If it is a good year on the heather, the colonies will also be strong will a lot of healthy bees ready to survive the winter, like the one in the picture.

Beekeeping

Beekeeping in Britain has been affected by the Varroa parasite which feeds on larvae and weakens colonies which either die out or succumb to common ailments and diseases.  In addition, two wet cold summers in 2007 and 2008 have had the effect of weakening colonies and reducing the number of drones for mating, which may have a long-term affect on the bee population.  Many beekeepers have lost colonies to disease in recent years, some as many as 80%.  Feeding with sugar syrup, actively increasing drone rearing and treating to control varroa are all part of modern beekeeping. 

Bruce Speed
Wharfedale Beekeepers Association

May 2009

 

Gallery

Our members are keen on photography, and here is a small collection.

Feral Honey bees Feral Honey Bees

Kettlewell 17/06/2007 Kettlewell 2007

 

 

bog 1bog 2bog 3bog 4bog 5

© Wharfedale Beekeepers Association copyright all rights reserve.