Dear Kennet Beekeeper,
The next talk we are having is this Friday 6 April at Bishops Cannings Village Hall SN10 2LA at 7.30 when Lynne Ingram will be speaking on The Importance of Drones. Drones are important in the honeybee colony, but are often ignored in hive inspections, or sacrificed. This talk will look at the role of drones in the colony. We will also look at the anatomy, biology and mating behaviour of drones, and the mysteries of drone congregation areas. Lynne has been keeping bees for over 30 years, and currently runs about 30 colonies in 5 apiaries. She is a Master Beekeeper, a BBKA examiner for module exams, the Basic, Microscopy and General Husbandry assessments, and is a correspondence course tutor. Lynne is passionate about bees, and loves being able to share that passion with other people. This is a talk we should all attend, and links into our diary date of Saturday 30 June when KBKA are going on a drone congregation hunt.
I was sorry, that because of the snow, I had to cancel Andy Willis talk called A bee’s eye view of beekeeping. It turned out to be the right call as many of us would never have got to Bishops Cannings – let alone the speaker. I am hoping Andy will accept my booking for next year.
Once again Dick Church is kindly organising our Apiary Skills Short Courses for KBKA. There will once again be several of these half-day theory and practical courses on offer:-
- Swarming – Sun. Apr. 29th. AM – led by Richard and David
- Extraction – Sat. July 21st. AM – led by Sophie and Dick
- Winter Preparations – Sat. Aug. 18th. AM – led by David and Rachael
Places are limited to 8 students, so I urge you to email Dick ASAP to reserve your places:- church175@btinternet.com
Just a reminder to get the Wiltshire Bee and Honey Day firmly in your diary for Saturday 6 October in Devizes. I hope that everyone from KBKA will enter something, but more of this show later in the year. Talking of shows, Sarah would still like to hear of any volunteers to help with the KBKA stand when we visit summer shows. Sarah can be emailed on:- fetes@kennet-beekeepers.co.uk
I have a request that members send their bee related photos to our webmaster so we can always be adding and changing the site to make it interesting. If you have an appropriate picture that you would be happy to let us use on the website, please send it to Sian Morgan at email:- webmaster@kennet-beekeepers.co.uk
Come and join us all at this interesting talk this Friday. Surely the warm weather is just round the corner and we can open a beehive in the not too distant future ? Bees really started for me as from 1 April (and that’s not a joke). I am your Seasonal Bee Inspector – but no inspections till it warms up!
All best wishes to all members.
Robert Carpenter Turner
Chairman Kennet Beekeepers
Tel: – 01672 852265 email:- chairman@kennet-beekeepers.co.uk