Meetings are held on second Monday each month (except January), at above venue

PRESENT: Frank Lindsay (Pres.), Mary Ann Lindsay (Treasurer), John Burnet (Secretary) and 42 members and visitors as listed in the attendance book.

APOLOGIES: John Robson, Fritz Fuchs, John Wallace, Jeff Pollard.

NEW MEMBERS AND VISITORS: Bob Porter (Hataitai), Justin Topzand (Waitakere), Vaughan Kearns (Ohakune/Waimarino).

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Minutes of meeting held 11 September as detailed in Oct newsletter were confirmed.

MATTERS ARISING: Varroa Zone Boundary: Frank Lindsay advised that discussions/ negotiations were continuing with all affected beekeepers over the line to be established between the Infected and Surveillance zones. Southern NI beekeepers wanted the Waimarino district to be included in the Surveillance zone however a small number of Northern NI beekeepers wanted the Waimarino "bubble" included in the Infected zone so they could move their Manuka hives back to Bay of Plenty after the Manuka had finished flowering. The location of the line at East Cape had now been decided after some discussion between BOP and Gisborne beekeepers.

It was emphasised that arrival of the Varroa mite in the Wellington district was only a matter of time and the likely first infestation points would be at truck stops with three places at Levin, Otaki and Plimmerton in particular being identified. Surveillance hives should be set up early at these points.

Apistan strips were likely to cost $4 each not $2.60 as previously mentioned. Other products such as Formic Acid were currently under investigation or being registered.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Balance of working account was currently $2,856.55 with two outstanding cheques for $200 (bond for Pinehaven Hall) and $62.50. 51% of NZ beekeepers have DECA certification and to date 1149 NZ beekeepers have passed the DECA exam.

MAF REPORT: Six beekeepers from the Wellington club attended a training course at Longburn on Sat 7 Oct and as accredited Level 2 Authorised Persons and can now inspect hives for Varroa (and other bee diseases) under AgriQual direction/supervision.

Richard Hatfield (new NBA President) advised that non-compliance by beekeepers was a major concern and indications were that 30 - 40% of apiary sites were unregistered. To ensure Varroa surveillance and control is applied to ALL hives and apiaries, also to maximise funds for this purpose, NBA will adopt a strong line on this issue and prosecute all offending beekeepers. All beekeepers were encouraged to report all suspected unregistered and unlabelled apiary sites (including grid reference if possible) to Tim Leslie (NBA Secretary) at Federated Farmers in Wellington.

DISEASEATHON: Scheduled for 11 Nov. It was agreed that Upper Hutt hives should be inspected this year because of AFB found during 1997 Diseasathon at Whitemans Valley.

Inspection of Wellington urban hives will be postponed until autumn.

HIVE MANAGEMENT: Season was still about a month early and most hives were now ready for another super. Beekeepers were recommended to check hives now for swarm cells. The 10-second swarm cell check is a good compromise for a full check of all brood boxes. This procedure requires the brood boxes to be split and the second box tilted to a sufficient angle to see along the bottom bars of this brood box. If swarm cells were seen a full inspection was necessary, as more swarm cells were likely elsewhere in the hive.

Other swarm prevention options discussed:

Overcrowding – a first honey super is probably needed now not when the main honey flow starts in Wellington in late Nov/early Dec.

Reversing brood boxes (two or three times during spring as needed) will compensate for the continual general upward movement of the queen and brood and provide more space for the brood.

Ventilation – adequate air movement prevents moisture or excessive heat build-up in the summer that results in bees "hanging out".

Interchanging hives - swap weak and strong hives over during the day while field bees are out. This reduces the strength of the stronger hive.

Artificial swarming is the ideal solution - new nucleus colonies consisting of two or three frames of brood and two frames of honey and pollen are made using queen cells (or a caged queen). These nucleii can be united with the parent hives later in the season or kept as separate colonies. Artificial swarming reduces the strength of the parent colony and the risk of swarming is substantially removed.

Use non-swarming strains – dark bees will always overcome yellow bees. When hiving a swarm or uniting colonies, dump black bees on the ground well clear of the hive to avoid retention of the black queen.

VARROA – Ivan Pedersen suggested that the Auckland experience with Varroa could not be compared with Denmark or Finland, as the climates were very different. Unlike Auckland (and NZ generally) the summer season in Northern Europe is very short and Varroa spread much slower there than it does in NZ.

Ivan produced a plastic floorboard he had imported from Denmark, which incorporated an inspection panel. He outlined the Danish practice for controlling Varroa – in essence continual removal and cutting out of drone cells, constant supervision (30 times per year), use of 10 frames per box to reduce space for drone comb.

Ivan suggested the use of Pinex pieces soaked in 250 mls 85% Formic acid, kept in sealed plastic bags until required. After honey is removed from the hive, bags are then slit to release fumes and left on the hive for 6 days. This procedure must be used in conjunction with drone brood removal.

To minimise costs it was suggested club members could make up and sell these Formic Acid boards (NOTE: NZ regulations require Formic Acid to be diluted to 65% due to Dangerous Goods restrictions).

Another Varroa control option requires the implementation of a 27day non-brood period using a Waldron queen excluder.

VARROA – Waimarino Valley. Vaughan Kearns further clarified the Waimarino situation and following considerable discussion it was agreed that the Wellington Club would support the proposal to draw the Infected Zone/Surveillance Zone line north of the district so that hives from the infected Bay of Plenty region could not be brought into area.

It was agreed (carried unanimously) that the following motion be forwarded to the Minister of Agriculture, with copies to Tim Leslie (NBA Sec.), Helen Barnard and Paul Bolger (MAF Varroa Control team):

"The boundary line between the Varroa Infected area and the Surveillance area should logically be drawn along the last natural geographic barrier from Mt Messenger to Mt Ruapehu (i.e. NORTH not SOUTH of the Waimarino district), therefore minimising the risk of Varroa reaching southern North Island and South Island beekeepers or at least prolonging their mite-free status for as long as possible."

Meeting closed at 9.30 pm with usual supper.

Swarming is the honey bee’s natural and instinctive method of reproduction and dispersal, and so is hard for beekeepers to change. The most common type of swarming is where one colony buds off another and the parent colony continues in existence. Another kind of swarming is absconding, where a whole colony deserts a hive. This is much less common in New Zealand.

Most swarming occurs from late September to early December, before the main honey flow when large amounts of brood are being raised, the adult population is increasing rapidly, and food supplies may be erratic.

There is no single cause of swarming, just as there is no single method of swarm prevention. Swarming is stimulated by a complex combination of factors, none of which on its own will usually cause swarming.

• a reduction in output of queen substance or pheromones, by the queen, usually because of aging
• an increase in colony size
• congestion in the brood nest interfering with transmission of pheromones,
• a drop in the average age of workers as the colony expands quickly
• rapid influx of nectar and pollen
• genetic makeup of the colony (some strains swarm more than others).

It is far better beekeeping to prevent swarming preparations from being made, rather than try to stop a swarm from leaving the hive, but swarm prevention techniques must be compatible with profitable colony management. There are a number of management systems described as swarm control techniques, most of which are very complicated. A good swarm prevention method must reduce swarming with as little interference to the colony as possible.

Some of the better swarm prevention mechanisms include:

• regular requeening
• providing room in the brood chamber
• providing room for honey storage
• ensuring adequate ventilation
• using non-swarming strains
• artificial swarming
• interchanging hives

Despite the best intentions, not all beekeepers have swarm prevention completely up to scratch, and occasionally remedial control measures have to be taken (such as cutting out queen cells when swarm preparations are detected), but these must not be regarded as a substitute for good prevention.

I'll start this month with a couple of don'ts.

Don't lick at a sting site on the back of your hand to reduce the pain without first checking that the sting has been completely removed. Otherwise you are just transferring the pain to a different area and stings are not all that easy to remove from the tongue.

At 2 am, if your dreaming you have bees under your arm, don't roll over and go back to sleep. An hour later I woke up again and this time scratched the area and the dream stung me. A particularly painful spot, the armpit and with nothing else to concentrate on the pain was intense. Moral - take notice of dreams and don't bring bees into the house.

This can be particularly important when there are children around. Bee suits and other clothing used while beekeeping should go into the washing machine as soon as you enter the house. Left lying around, the venom on the suit dries and particles circulate with dust around the house. Constantly breathing in venom could lead to sensitivity in some teenagers. Bee aware of the unseen dangers and protect your children as there are too many beekeeper's children with sensitivity to bee stings.

Around the Wellington area, the flowering of the bush seems to be all mixed up. That cold spell in October delayed the flowering of some trees and now they are really getting into gear. Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa) is in full flower (it's late), early Whiteywood (Melicytus ramiflorus), Wineberry (Aristotelia serrata) is doing well. Kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) has just started (our main flow) but so are all the introduced species like Barberry (Berberis glaucocarpa) and Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyancantha). Pohutukawa has budded up well and in some hot areas - along roads is starting to flower, (it normally flowers around Christmas). This means that we could have a real mix of honeys this year.

Another thing I have notices is that there have been very few swarms so far this year. Lots of hives superceded early in September due to the warm winter and are now headed by young queens. Normally we would be receiving five or 6 swarm calls a day however we are only coordinating one call every other day at present. If your conditions are similar to ours, keep an eye on your hives, reverse the brood super and give extra room by adding honey supers ahead of time otherwise all the effort and attention you have put into your hives will have been wasted. Some old timers used to tell me that when you see the white wax covering most of the top bars of a super, its time to put on the next. This is far too late. Once the bees start working a flow, keep them working by either adding supers or extracting the honey when it's almost fully capped.

November is a patchy month and there is often a dearth of nectar to keep the hives going. Some hives around the bush fringes and cities have taken advantage of heavy nectar flows and are brimming with bees and have half filled a super in a week of fine weather. We get strong early flows around the city.

In other areas, bees depend upon ground flower species like Dandelion, Wild Turnip and Buttercup, and hedge species such as Barberry, Hawthorn and Boxthorn. As the Gorse finishes, Broom becomes the predominate pollen source. When all these finish there is little to support the bees before the clover starts. Without care, these hives can quickly starve.

November is also a windy month and it is quite surprising the difference a shelter can make. If your hives are exposed, try proving them with shelter. City hives can be placed behind a runner bean frame. As the beans grow up, the bees are forced higher into the air and are less of a nuisance plus the beans screen the growing hive. Otherwise shelterbelt material forms an ideal protection. Bees will fly during windy days provided they can take off and land out of the wind. For a few extra dollars, you can increase your honey production quite a lot.

When you look inside the hives, new nectar is evident all around and about the brood nest. This looks a lot but in fact when reduced down to 17% moisture, it isn't very much at all. Where possible keep at least three frames of honey in the hive all the time. If the hives have less than this amount and the weather changes, feed sugar syrup. I do not visit my hives on a weekly basis and therefore add two scoops using a 2 kg honey pot of raw sugar to the top feeder as an emergency supply. Add a little water to the edge of the sugar and the bees will soon get the idea to use this as a feed source. If another source is available they will work this instead of the sugar. Raw sugar in fact retards the development of the hive, as it requires so much work to convert. Hence this system is not much good for feeding weak or nucleus hives.

Even in the apiaries that require feeding there is the odd hive that is full of brood and still has a fair amount of stored as well as fresh nectar. These are the bees I like (good over-wintering ability and honey production) and show up under these conditions. Mark your best hives and try raising a few queens from them in January.

I learnt another important lesson the other day. Don't work late into the evening. I have been changing frames, clearing a way burr and brace comb and piling this into an empty super on the back of the Ute. Next morning this is transferred to bags ready to melt down. Imagine my surprise when I found a queen sitting amongst this rubbish surrounded by half a dozen bees. Some where out there is a hive without a queen, however she was put too good use and has now replaced a rather old girl who was only just holding her own.

Reminds me of another thing I did wrong the other day. I mark queens as I come across them as an indication of age and sometimes it makes them easier to find. This seasons colour is blues. Shows up well on yellow queens but not well on black queens. Anyway I was marking a queen and a blob of water based poster paint went all over her head and thorax. Now a queen has got to be able to see so I immediately picked her up and washed her in the nearby creek. Most came off but when I put her back on the frame she had come off, the bees attacked her. Either the smell of the water (it was rather swampy) or the fact that I had removed all her pheromones meant she was treated as an intruder. I caged her and after finishing with the other hives released her again but she was immediately balled again so left her in a cage for the bees to release later.

The same happens when breeding queens. Checking a hive within a week of the queen emerging will often result in the queen being balled. You see a bundle of bees on the bottom board. I'm not sure whether this is a defense reaction where the bees are protecting the new queen or whether they realise she is a stranger. I do not take the risk and cage her for her protection.

New beekeepers may have only frame of foundation to put on a hive. Unless the hive is very strong, the bees will not readily go up into it. Encourage the bees to move up by taking a frame of honey from the outside of the super below and placing it in the middle of the new super. Similar techniques are used to get a lot of frames drawn. Interspace these with drawn combs and the bees will come up into the super quicker. When the hives gets above four supers high put the new super above the third, (under supering). They are build out quicker above the second super however bees tend to store pollen in the third super after a spell of wet weather so if you want nice clean frames, put your new super above the third box.

Generally we collect a few swarms that are handy but most are collected in bait hives in each apiary. These generally are from feral colonies being black in colour and only cover three frames. I like to get the queen laying before disturbing the hive.

Two reasons.

If left to their own resources, the swarm will gather enough honey to winter on but will never amount to anything because the queen is old. Order a new queen and when she arrives, give her a drop of water to refresh them. Remove the attendant bees by opening the cage slightly (inside) in front of a closed window. If the queen gets out, she can be easily caught and put back in the cage.

Proceed to the swarm hive and find the queen. Use as little smoke as possible and go gently through the hive. Feral bees tend to run off the edge of the frames and once this has started, the only way to find a queen is to force the bees through a queen excluder. However if you are gentle enough you should find her on a brood frame. As you remove each frame, look down on to the surface of the next frame and quite often you'll see her scampering away from the light. When you have found the old queen, don't take your eyes off her and run her through with the hive tool. I have wasted many hours over the years continually looking over a frame for a lost queen. They are very good at hiding when you especially want to find them.

Place the new queen's cage into the hive, candy plug covered and leave for four days. When opening the hive, observe the behavior of the bees on the cage. If the are all tightly clustered over the cage assume there is another queen or the bees have begun building queen cells so look through the hive again. Dispatch these and either repeat the exercise in another four days time or if you are confident, release the candy cover and let the bees emerge by eating through the candy plug.

One tip I use when putting cages in hives is to half cover the cage by wrapping tape around it. Research has shown that 60% of queens are damaged by bees chewing at their footpads, antenna, etc, which result in the new queen being superceded. Give the queen somewhere to hide and you'll get less damage and greater acceptance.

There are other safe ways to introduce a new queen. One method is to use a push in cage. After dispatching the old queen, the queen is released under a wire mesh cage that is pushed into a patch of emerging brood. The young bees will feed her and accept her immediately. Another way is to make a four-frame nuc. Introduce the new queen into it and after a couple of weeks when she is laying, kill the old queen in the swarm hive and unite both colonies together (with the new queen colony on top) by using two single sheets of newspaper.

If you do not want extra hives allow the old queen to start laying, dispatch her and then unite the colony under a weak hive. This will boost its strength and give you a honey crop.

Check honey and pollen reserves (early morning is best), BL check, raise queen cells, super hives to give room, swarm control - look for queen cells along the bottom bars of the second brood super (remove some frames and bees or split hives once cells have been started). Cull or move old frames to the outside of the supers. Fit foundation in comb honey frames.

When feeding syrup in spring to assist with colony build-up, you should use weak syrup composed of two parts of water to one part of syrup. Autumn feeding uses stronger syrup, but in spring, you should match the consistency of nectar to assist with brood rearing. Remember that syrup alone is not enough in spring - bees need pollen too!

Do you have the odd bee that buzzes you every time you go to the clothes line or weed the garden? The ones that makes mowing the lawn difficult? Well some of this behaviour is genetic and replacing the queen may help.

If not, Ormond & Harry Aebi's book on "Mastering the Art of Beekeeping - Vol 2" (Chapter 5, How to Tame Bees) tells you how to get over this problem.

Their solution is to make a wave cloth. In other words, have a cloth (old dirty shirt) permanent mounted on a line or stand fairly close to the hive, which moves around in the breeze. The bees see the movement and investigate, but can't do anything about it and soon get used to the movement around them. Very soon you can happily move around your yard without bees investigating you. Try it - it works.

Incidently the book is very good reading - Aebi's hold the world record for the production from one hive.

Frank Lindsay

From time to time we receive complaints about bee problems. IE. swarming bees and spots on the washing, cars, etc. from neighbours and Councils. We have to see both sides and provide advice accordingly, and generally try to defuse the situation but this is not always possible.

One has the right to keep bees but this must fit in with the neighbours right to live without undue annoyances. Usually you can happily keep one or two hives in a suburban garden provided you are surrounded by a high fence or hedge, (out of sight - out of mind).

We have all seen the results on a beekeeper taking on the local authority by-laws. He didn't win and because of all the fuss, everybody in that local authority's area, (those who are honest), now have to pay a yearly fee of $60 for a licence to keep bees in a restricted manner. The local authority does nothing to enhance beekeeping or to control disease. Its just a tax to dissuade one from keeping bees and they can revoke the licence at any time.

If you want this to happen in your area, buck the system.

We must all appreciate that the presence of bees causes concern (not helped by the documentary on Sunday that mentioned killer bees - the insect that kills most people in the world). Often this is completely unfounded but you must be aware that at this time of the year, hives expand in numbers three fold and are most noticeable.

If you receive a complaint of droppings on washing etc., tell the neighbour that you'll move the hive a little to change the flight path. If this doesn't work, reduce the numbers by taking one away. If this still doesn't work you may have to find a new site. (The Council may even find a spot for you close by if you handle things correctly).

If your bees start to swarm, turn the sprinkler on them - they'll immediately go back into the hive which should give you time to stop it happening again the next day.

If they are stinging the neighbours, move the offending hive away. Requeen it and bring it back again in six weeks when the bees have changed over to gentler ones. Ask your queen breeder to produce a quiet strain of bee for you. It may take a lot longer to get to you as he/she will have to check the actual off-spring before sending on the queen (this may cost a little more as the queens are usually dispatched as soon as they are laying proficiently).

If they are using your neighbours pool for water, supply a moist sandy spot close to the hive.

Don't work your bees on a weekend when your neighbours are out gardening and mowing the lawns. Remember a hive takes a couple of days to settle down after being disturbed, so work on them mid-week.

Cover supers and frames when not actually looked into, (this was demonstrated at last month's meeting by the use of twin tin covers). Try not to squash any bees as this alerts others to defend the hive. Use enough smoke to keep the bees under control. If you need help - ask!

I haven’t been asked out on a bee expedition for a while, partly because of the incompatibility of our individual timetables, but partly, I suspect, because my literary efforts that follow each of these outings induce that dangerous state of mind which contemplates legal retaliation in the minds of my fellow beekeepers.

However, following our last Bee Club meeting, when a collective twinge of conscience was felt by our merry band, my past was evidently forgiven, and I joined Les, Ray and Frank C for their spring checks. Whether these checks would have taken place had a swarm not been caught and hived the day before, is unclear, but nonetheless we gathered at Frank C’s bright and early and ready to conquer the world.

Now, I think I have mentioned before that beekeepers like placing their hives on inaccessible sites, and those at Frank C’s are no exception. The first group of hives on his property is situated on what Land Agents would euphemistically describe as "rolling countryside", although the only rolling I have seen is done by Les when he trips over his gumboots – and that’s on the ascent! Following a brief byplay with some bovine spectators, we all repair to the hive site and prepare for duty. First hive – lid off, nice and quiet, until Les smokes them. At that point three of us unilaterally decide to be remote control beekeepers. A complicated discussion as to this year’s colour for Queens (its Blue actually), Les sights the Queen, good stores, frames look clean (quite clean from our long range perspective actually), close up and move on. This time no smoke – and no queen either. No brood and no eggs and some slightly buzzy bees. Les recalls that the neighbouring bovines recently knocked this hive for six, and he had to come and rebuild the happy home. Perhaps this explains the absent queen? We close up and move on.

The third hive is really interesting. Several capped queen cells, including one puny effort which I curiously open, a queen emerges, and Ray frantically exhorts me to "kill, kill". I reluctantly oblige, while we all marvel at her size, despite the smallness of her cell. Good things can come in small parcels as they say. Well, now we know where yesterday’s swarm came from don’t we?! After considerable discussion two frames with queen cells are placed in the queenless hive adjacent, we shut up shop, and gird our loins for the last hive.

The last hive has been placed on an adjacent mountain. In fact, I would rate this site as about a 9 on the Alexander scale of impenetrability. Scale 6 requires pitons, while Scale 12 is accessible by helicopter only. Several hazards on route demand an eagle eye and a firm clutch on one’s Life Insurance Policy, and practical obstacles such as a dearth of handholds and rampant arborescence (gorse!) render even serious beekeepers hesitant. To give an idea of the heights scaled, there is a rumour that it is possible to pick up Radio Moscow by way of the boundary fence wires! However, goal achieved, and Les sets fire to his smoker and prepares to attack.

At this point I must tell you about Les’s smoker. He has for this appendage a concern that knows no bounds. This is directly proportional to the inconvenience it causes the rest of us. The smoker itself has only two moods – dead, or barely controllable eruption. Again we watch from a discreet distance. However, these bees are very well behaved – possibly because they receive so few visitors, they are pleased to see us. Les sights the Queen, while we note water seeping in through the southwest corner of the hive has rendered some of the drawn frames mushy. Replace, waterproof and shut up nice and snug. Journey back to earth clutching the electric fence wires for stability – "is this fence live Frank? Aaagh!" - and a drop of resuscitation kindly supplied by Frank C’s better half, before we adjourn to our individual homes. I travel home from Les’s on my bike, covered in smoke stains and adherent gorse, and try hard to ignore the stares of my fellow road users. Pleasant though my ride is, it has an uneasy atmosphere, probably engendered by the reaction to my wild appearance (beesuit, purple gumboots, etc etc). All in all a lovely day out in the sun, only a handful of stings (all of them Les’s), – now for the literary effort!

Postscript: a week after the above we collected a second gold swarm on Frank C’s property. This appeared to have no queen, as it clustered all night on the outside of the box supplied, despite the cool (alpine) temperatures. Upon being brushed into the box, within half an hour it was gathered back outside. At that point we added a frame of brood and frames of stores, and that did the trick. Later we united this swarm with the swarm mentioned above. Then three days later another gold swarm, even larger, presented itself in the district, and it was decided to add this to the queenless hive. Now Les is frantically scouring timber sources for supplies to replace all the gear he sold – so much for downsizing his beekeeping operation. The season looks like it has got off to a good start!

The annual diseaseathon will take place on Saturday 11th November this year. We are planning to do the Upper Hutt area again as disease was found in this part of the region when it was last inspected. As well as inspecting for AFB, we will be looking for mites, and collecting samples of bees for later analysis. Volunteers are required to assist with this exercise. It is a rewarding and enjoyable day. New members are especially encouraged to join in to observe and learn. Phone Frank (478 3367), James (565 0164), or John (232 7863) for more information.

The National Beekeepers Association is concerned that there are still a large number of unregistered apiaries and beehives around. The presence of these is hindering the efforts of the industry to manage diseases including the eradication of AFB and control of varroa when it eventually arrives in Wellington. If you believe that an apiary or beehive is unregistered (ie there is no beekeeper registration details displayed), then please advice AgriQuality NZ (as agents of the NBA), or the secretary of Federated Farmers.