Dean Forest Beekeepers

Our next meeting is on Thursday 1st March. 'Thoughts on Honey' will be an evening where Annie Cavill will explain how any of us can write that subject. The meeting is at Staunton Village Hall with a 7.30 pm start as usual. If you are not a member but are interested in joining us you are welcome to come along to meet us and find out more.

If you haven't yet treated your bee colonies with oxalic acid, one of the most important ways of controlling varroa, you should do it soon. Best carried out after a cold snap, it involves trickling the dilute solution onto the bees between the frames. Solution can be bought ready-made from beekeeping suppliers or if you are careful you can mix your own. (The strength of the solution is very important.) You can read a full explanation of the treatment here: Oxalic acid treatment by Megan Seymour

Beehive hums recorded to monitor bees health Thanks to Adam Parker for passing on this link: BBC news report

The National Bee Unit have issued an end of year report. You can read the summary of their apiary inspections in 2011 here: NBU 2011 report

The fascinating skep beekeeping films from the 1970's are now on YouTube, so they download more easily. They are on our Links page here. Patrick James has added some new superb photos in his Photo Gallery album.

	HoneyBun's February recipe is Shrove Tuesday Surprise. Go to the HoneyBun recipe collection to find out more!
	Our next Basic Beekeeping Course (a six week evening course followed by practical sessions at our apiary) will take place in February/March 2012 and is now FULL. We are running a one-day Introductory Course on Saturday May 19th 2012. Places are still available at the moment and there is a booking form here: 2012 Introductory course. One lucky person will get the course free! Our member Clive Estcourt won it as prize in our Xmas draw, and has donated it to the club. We will select the winner by drawing a name on the day. For more information on the course contact Jim Vivian-Griffiths on 01600 714428.
	Swarming is one of the biggest worries for beekeepers. Val Vivian-Griffiths has written a clear, straightforward and very helpful explanation of what to do when you find that your bees are building queen cells and planning to swarm: Thoughts on Swarming

 

We hope this site will be useful to anyone in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley who is interested in bees and beekeeping.

From September to March we hold monthly indoor meetings. You can see details on our Calendar page. From April to the end of September we hold weekly practical sessions from 6 pm to 8 pm every Thursday at our Lydney apiary.
If you are interested in starting beekeeping and would like to know more about the Association please get in touch with one of the people on our Contacts page. They will be pleased to give you more information.

If you are a member of Dean Forest Beekeepers and would like to post in the Forum or Gallery please register on one of those pages. (A site User Guide is available.)