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 32 members and visitors as listed in the attendance book.

APOLOGIES: Derek Chapman, John Robson, Marie & Chris Christoffel, Laurie Williams, Jeff Pollard.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Minutes of meeting held 13 November as detailed in Dec newsletter were confirmed.

MATTERS ARISING: Varroa Update: It was confirmed that Inspectors or Authorised Persons could only inspect hives under the Biosecurity Act using original warrants issued by AgriQuality – photocopies were not legally acceptable. No new pesticides had been registered under the Animal Remedies Act – Thymol and Formic acid were still under investigation

Diseasathon: James Scott & Frank Lindsay circulated photographs taken of neglected and infected AFB hives discovered during the recent Diseaseathon. Frank advised that AgriQuality had ordered the destruction of the diseased hives and another Diseaseathon would be held next March/April.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Balances of all accounts were outlined to members and Mary Ann’s Christmas supper expenses ($17.65) and anticipated annual Church hall hire for 2001 ($297) were ratified by members (Ken Breden/Amor Walter).

CORRESPONDENCE: The Club had received an invitation to participate in the Upper Hutt Summer Carnival on Sat 24 Feb. at Trentham Memorial Park. Frank & Mary Ann had previously operated a stand at the Carnival but would welcome support and assistance from other members. An invitation had also been received to participate in an event to be held at Golder’s Cottage, Upper Hutt during Labour weekend 2001.

GENERAL BUSINESS: Obituary: Mary Ann Lindsay reported that Laurie Dennis had died the previous week and the Club had sent a sympathy card to his wife and family. Laurie had been a member of the Club for many years and a secretary in the mid 1980’s. He had given up beekeeping and resigned from the Club in 1997 when he moved into an inner city apartment.

Seasonal Management: The honey flow had recently started in the Wellington area with Kamahi, Manuka and Pohutukawa now flowering. Use of smoke was now unnecessary (unless in a thunderstorm or after 4.30pm when bees had stopped flying).

Field Day: A District field day was being planned for the weekend 26-28 Aug at Camp Rangi in the Pohangina Valley, near Palmerston North. This was to be a live-in weekend camp aimed at both new and experienced beekeepers and had been very popular when previously held in 1998.

NBA Issues: Richard Hatfield (NBA Pres.) reported NBA were going to take a stronger line on various compliance issues in particular display of apiary numbers, provision of grid references, use of moveable frames. Currently civil action was underway against two beekeepers with significant unpaid NBA levies and an enforcement agency was also investigating other PMS non-compliance cases.

An audit of beekeepers’ Annual Disease Returns had recently been undertaken and beekeepers were requested to advise the NBA Secretary of any incorrect correspondence received concerning the completion of these returns.

A new levy system was being proposed which would require all beekeepers to pay an apiary registration fee. Currently all industry costs were being met by commercial beekeepers only.

Members Queries:

Queenless Hives: Choices available? Unite with a strong hive or provide colony with a frame of larvae. One method suggested of quickly uniting a hive is to tip all bees out on the ground a few metres away from the hive i.e. significantly disturb the colony and the differing pheromones..

Swarms: 15 reported in Whitemans Valley over the past fortnight. Swarms are now being reported in the Porirua Basin. Artificial pheromone strips were now commercially available which will hold swarms. A frame of brood will also prevent a swarm absconding.

Nuisance Bees: These can often be "tamed" by hanging a permanent wave cloth near the hive. One member reported considerable recent success with this procedure.

Meeting closed at 9.30 p.m. with customary Christmas supper including Mary Ann’s punch.

John Burnet

DAIRY NOW 24th, 25th, 26th AUGUST 2001 - ANOTHER SOUTHERN NORTH ISLAND VENTURE TO ASSIST YOU - OPEN TO ALL NEW ZEALAND

A full weekend of training for all budding beekeepers or those who need to feel comfortable with bees. DECA Course run for those who wish to do it. (extra charge $25 covers test).

Venue; Pohangina Valley Camp. Cost: $80 includes all meals, accommodation and Course. We are limited to the number able to attend (75 accommodation) so first in applies. If you have a camper or caravan there is space available. IT GETS COLD IN THE VALLEY.

Applications close June 30th 2001 or as soon as limit reached. Money with application ie $80 plus $25 if doing DECA test. Cheques to be made out to; Southern North Island Branch of N B A. Any questions call;

• Convenor: Peter Ferris on (06) 378-7632 or
• Treasurer Mary-Ann Lindsay on (04) 478-3367

There are four introduced wasp species in New Zealand: the Australian paper wasp; German Wasp; common wasp; and Asian paper wasp. Unfortunately there is also a fear that a big and potentially harmful new variety, the exotic yellow flower wasp, may have arrived in the far north.

Introduced wasp species are causing a number of problems through New Zealand as this country provides a favourable habitat, there are no natural predators, winters are relatively mild, and there is a plentiful food supply. They pose a danger to workers in industries such as viticulture and forestry, and they raid hives and diminish the food supply for honeybees, reducing their productivity. They also pose an environmental threat, consuming large numbers of native insects which are an important food source for many of our native species including kaka, tui and geckos. New Zealand has some of the highest densities of common and German wasps in the world - it has been estimated that the South Island's beech forests can be home to as many as 18 billion wasps in a season! However, wasp densities depend a lot on the spring weather and rain at nest-founding time has reduced the number of nests for the sixth consecutive season in some parts of the North Island.

An eradication programme for wasps is not feasible because wasps are highly mobile and there are few effective total control methods available. Taking a pro-active approach to wasp control will reduce the risk to yourself, your family members and neighbours, of stumbling over a nest and being attacked. The most successful way of reducing a local wasp population is to find and destroy all the nests. Wasps will most often search for food within 200 metres of their nest. If you can kill all the nests within the 200 metres of the trouble spot you should significantly reduce the wasp problem. Remember that wasp control is ongoing, the area may be re-invaded the following year.

Wasps build their nests in a variety of places: underground, often in sunny spots, along banks, attached to walls, plants and under the floor and eaves of houses. The best time to search for a nest is on a sunny day, preferably at dawn or dusk. This time of day is good because the low light highlights the wasps flight paths as they go in and out of their nests. You can track them in a number of ways. One of the more successful is to use a plate of cat food to attract them and, as they land, sprinkle them with flour to make them more visible. Follow the wasp as far as you can then repeat the process until you find the nest.

Powdered insecticides including Permex and Carbaryl are available for control. The dust is sprinkled liberally over and around the entrance of a nest after dark. The dust is carried into the nest by the wasps as they fly to and fro, effectively killing the wasps in the nest. The process may have to be repeated every seven days depending on the nest size. The smaller paper wasp nests (which are above ground) can usually be controlled using household fly spray. Chemicals for wasp control can be purchased from most garden centres and farm supply stores.

Petrol or diesel can be poured into a nest which is then plugged with a sack. This will fumigate the wasps, burt should be used sparingly. DO NOT set light to the nest. Small paper wasp nests that are hanging from a tree or branch above ground can be enclosed with a plastic bag and snipped from the tree. Place the bag and nest in the freezer for at least 3 days to kill the wasps, and dispose in the rubbish.

A wasp parasatoid Sphecophaga vesparum has been trialled by Landcare Research. The parasite hatches in spring, in time to invade wasp nests and destroy immature wasps. The parasites have established in two sites in New Zealand but have not reduced wasp numbers significantly. Microbial pathogens (such as fungi, bacteria and viruses) are currently under investigation by research teams from Landcare Research and AgResearch. The research may provide valuable results for control of wasps in the future.

REDUCE THE RISK: There is little you can do to avoid being stung by wasps as insect repellants do not work. Wasps are unlikely to chase after you unless you have disturbed a nest. When you are walking through bush in spring or summer time, particularly if you are in honey-dew beech country, be wary of where you put your feet and what you brush your pack on. Wear light coloured clothing. Wasps, as with honey bees, will direct their attacks against dark coloured objects (particularly blue) when disturbed.

KNOW YOUR WASP: An average wasp nest can produce between 1000 - 2000 queens per season. Queen wasps will fly up to 70 km in search of a nest site, however 99% of wasps fail to establish nests the following spring. Nearly all the worker wasps (the ones we see most often) die before they are three weeks old. A wasp sting in most people will cause a raised itchy painful swelling, but in a small proportion of the population will cause severe reactions, sometimes rendering people unconscious. About 10% of people are allergic to stings. You can be stung several times and think that you are okay, but the next sting may give your body a shock.

FIRST AID:Cold pads and antihistamine cream will help reduce pain and swelling. Seek medical advice immediately if there are multiple stings, or the victim shows symptoms of nausea or shock. If members of your party are allergic to wasp stings ensure they carry medication at all times and that there is somebody else capable of assisting them if need be.

(courtesy of Environment Waikato Regional Council, Animal Pest Series No 5 1998, and Alan Samson, Dominion reporter 20 Jan 2001)

Vicky Alexander

Dear Bee Club Members

Recently I have developed a severe reaction to bee stings, and for this reason have had to give up bee keeping. In parting however, I would like to thank members of the Bee Club for their friendship over the time I have been a member. I have appreciated their advice, help and support, and I wish the new owner of my hive, Claire Brown, as much pleasure with this as I have enjoyed over the past two-three years.

Jeanette Johnstone

Around Wellington everything has dried out. The countryside looks like Blenheim. A lot of plants are showing signs of stress. Leaves on the Rangiora bushes are crumpled and shrunken. However if you look around, nectar sources are still available to the bees. Along road edges and in waste areas, fennel and thistle are flowering while in the city and in parks, the red and orange flowering eucalyptus is just getting under way.

It's a good time to take off the honey.

Just how much honey you leave on the hive to feed the bees over the winter depends upon your spring management (does the area have an early flow or late flow) and the way you operate your bees.

A few beekeepers take the majority of the honey off and winter hives in single supers with six frames of honey. Spare bees are either harvested for exported, used to make up nucs or the old field bees are just left hanging on the outside of the hive to die off naturally. Hives are inspected in August and from then on are fed sugar syrup to stimulate the queen into laying and to feed the hive.

Others winter in two supers, leaving one full super of honey. These hives can be left a little later into the spring before being inspected and providing addition food for those that are running short. I winter my hives three super high because we tend to have a very early honey flows (October) which require a strong population earlier. Basically hives are left with a super and a half of honey and room for a large cluster of bees. This practice is rather expensive for a commercial beekeeper. Some say it's more profitable to remove all the honey and feed back sugar. I prefer to leave the hives well stocked for spring. Any that breed up excessively and are likely to swarm in the early spring are split and requeened as a form of swarm control.

This was the method I have used during the past twenty years, however now that we have varroa mites in NZ, my hive management must change. When mites arrive in our district, hives will have to be monitored more closely. Hives with large populations will cost more to control so I’ll have to change my beekeeping methods and adapt to new conditions. Over the next few months I hope to get the ideas off other beekeepers and work out an operational plan that best suits our area. The movement control line (a line many consider unfair) gives those below the line time to observe and adapt before the mite arrives.

As a first step I am weeding out frames that contain patches of drone comb. I have put a lot of foundation comb into my hives this year and these have been drawn and filled with honey. During my disease inspection (before removing any honey), I either move frames with drone cells to the outside of the super or remove them altogether and replace the frame with one of the newly drawn ones. By the time mites arrive, most of my hives should have only one comb with drone comb and the rest will be beautifully drawn worker comb.

With this in mind, it's time to take off the honey. Hives in the country, well away from houses can be worked at any time of the day, however hives close to neighbours have to be worked with consideration.

A few weeks ago when hives were working the flow, hives could be open, inspected and honey supers removed with the use off very little smoke. The bees were so busy they hardy took any notice of you. This all changes as soon as the flow finishes. Bees start hanging around the honey house looking for exposed honey frames.

If can be difficult to remove honey from hives if there are other hives nearby. They are attracted to exposed honey and seem to find it within minutes. A roof left off a hive will quickly attract robbers. The resident bees defend their precious harvest and soon you have a stinging situation around the hives. This shouldn’t happen but if it does as a last resort, cover all the hive entrances with grass and put the sprinkler on above the hives. Bees don’t work in the rain and will quickly settle down. Plan your activities well ahead of time and this shouldn’t happen.

Now back to removing honey. Generally only frames that are fully or 80% capped are selected for extraction. However supers put on late in the flow may not be fully capped by the bees if the flow sudden finishes. These can be removed if you are sure the honey has been ripened. You will observe that it will not shake out when the frame is held flat and given a sharp shake and there could be tiny specks of debris on the surface of the honey. If any honey comes out, leave the frame for the bees.

There are several methods of removing bees from the honey supers; shaking, brushing, escape boards, fume boards and blowing. One of the best methods for a hobbyist with a hive in the garden is to use an escape board. These have a one or two, escape devices that permit the bees to leave the super but not return.

Escape-boards will normally clear 90% of the bees over 48 hours and can be use to clear up to four supers at once. The last remaining bees can be removed by using a brush, (twig, feather or whatever), using a brushing motion to deposit them back into the hive entrance.

However escape boards will not clear the bees out of the honey supers if:

• The evenings are still warm.
• There are open or capped brood cells in any of the frames.
• The supers are not completely sealed (alternative entrances, cracks or holes).
• The hive is totally congested.
• The queen happens to be in the honey super or
• The escape is block with burr comb or dead bees.

If the hive is congested with bees, add another spare super below the escape-board. If there is a line of drone brood in one of the honey frames, run the hive tool through them. Frames with patches of worker brood should be put down into a lower super. The queen will quickly move out of the honey super by gently puffing a little smoke over the top of the honey supers before they are removed. Supers joined with burr comb should be cracked a day or two before the escape-board is put on so that the bees clean up any honey in the burr comb. Before leaving the hive re-inspected it again for any crack between the honey supers. They must be totally bee tight. Seal any crack or holes with tape or foam plastic to prevent robber bees removing any of the honey.

Generally hives should only be worked in the middle of the day when all the field bees are out doing their work. Bees tend to be more defensive if worked earlier in the morning or late into the evening but when you have near neighbours we have to compromise and work hives when they least disturb the neighbours.

I find that it's easier to work hives early in the morning - 6 am. Its cool at this time of the morning and the bees are not generally flying. A few puffs of smoke in the entrance and under the lid will quieten the bees and stop them rushing out. Hives can be inspected, escape boards put on and the hives put back together again before the neighbours are out of bed. This gives the hives time to settle down before there’s any movement in the neighbourhood.

Extracting honey is a messy business requiring lots of newspaper and usually takes twice as long as first anticipated. Many hands make light work so try and do a combined extraction with another beekeeper. Use a sharp knife and keep all windows and doors closed. Be careful how you handle extracted honey supers. If left out, they will attract every bee in the neighbourhood to your property, which can quickly turn to a robbing frenzy resulting in stings and a complaint to the Council. . Wet supers should be put back on the hives in the evening once all bee activity has ceased to either clean out or refill again if the flow is still on.

February is also an ideal time to requeen your hives. Queens are easier to obtain and introduce at this time of the year. Ideally queens should be replaced every year (less swarming and more honey) but most beekeepers replace them every two years. Beekeepers who requeen regularly find beekeeping more profitable and in fact have less work to do in the spring. You should also consider requeening all the swarms retrieved this season. They are usually headed by an old queen and will have a tendency to swarm, no mater what the age of the queen. As you check your hives mark for requeening any hives that has not produced a lot of honey, any with many frames of pollen in the brood nest (far more than other hives) and those that have a spotty brood.

I determine the age of my queens in two ways. I mark as many as I come across (the queen and the outside of the bottom super) with a water-based paint poster pen and look at the brood patten. To determine how the queen is laying, look at the open brood. A new queen will lay in nearly all the cells and the brood will be at the same stage of development. If you have brood of all ages scattered through a patch of brood, consider replacing the queen.

Requeening is the basis of all beekeeping and yet a lot of beekeepers still have trouble with this aspect of beekeeping. Finding the old queen can be a problem. Dark queens are almost impossible to find because they run and so may require extreme methods, (a relic of the old days when the bees that ran out of skeps lived while the quiet, steady bees were sulphured). Use very little or no smoke and go through the hive very carefully in the morning. Don't bump or jar the hive. Remove any honey supers (cover to prevent robbing) starting at the sunny side of the hive, remove the frames until you come across the brood frames. Look down on the exposed surface of the frame. The queen is larger and can be often seen scurrying away from the light. Remove the frame, look on the surface of the next frame then examine the frame in your hands. Look for a hole or space amongst the bees on the frame. She should be in the middle of one of these. When you find her, put her into a four-frame nuc. (2 frames of honey and two of brood). This way you still have a queen should the new one fail to be accepted by the hive.

Wait a day then put the queen cage as is into the hive just above the brood nest. Four days later go through the brood nest of the hive and remove and queen cells and then release the candy cover on the cage.

If you can't find her (or for dark queens), put a queen excluder between the two bottom supers of the brood nest. Wait four to five days and look for the super that has eggs in the brood nest. She is in this portion. Look again and it you still can't find her, move this part of the hive to another location and requeen the half left on the old site. As a last resort, consider putting a queen excluder between the floorboard and the first super and shake all the bees out in front of the hive. Wait a few hours and all the bees will have gone back inside and she should be with a small group of bees on the underside of the queen excluder. Once the new queen is laying, kill the old queen and unite the portion of the hive that contained the old queen, under the new queen portion using two sheets of newspaper.

I prefer to make up a number of four frame nucs from a hive that hasn't produced much honey and once the new queens are laying, find and dispatch the old queens and unite the nuc to the hives as above.

If you live close to a queen breeder, consider putting protected 10-day-old cells into the brood nest. A protector can be anything that stops the bees chewing away the side of the queen cell. A piece of hose, insulation tape or tin foil. Wrap it around the cell but leave the bottom exposed so the new queen can emerge from the cell. Check the hive again in three weeks and look for new brood. If there isn't any, the hive could be queenless and will require a new queen. Normally there should be an 80% acceptance.

Things to do this month: Extract honey, remove comb honey, rear autumn queen. Introduce purchased queens. Produce nuclei (carry a few through the winter as spares). Check for AFB before removing any honey and keep an eye out for wasps.

The Biosecurity (National American Foulbrood Pest Management Strategy) Order 1998, section 17 states in part:

So a place may be notified as an apiary if there are one or more hives, each of which is within 200m of each other. But if the hives are owned by more than 1 beekeeper, it must be notified as an apiary by each beekeeper.

Why is there no must in the first situation? Is notification optional?????

From NBA-List, courtesy of Nick Wallingford

Looks like an above average honey crop for our area. Some members have hives 8 high. Good early Kamahi and a long protracted pohutukawa flow. Bees were slow in going on to manuka but eventually did. Further north they received rain and clover has produced well. Now that we are in drought conditions most honey sources have dried up.

Generally over the country honey production has been mixed. Some up and some down. Manuka in the far north was rained out so will be in shortage. Bulk Prices for this honey have already risen to $5.00 per kg.

Frank Lindsay

In early Junary, Fritz Fuchs reported taking 32 Kg of honey on 28^th December, and that the bees were working all of the boxes (back on the hive). Refer to the following photograph.

Fritz Fuchs and his hives - January 2001. Note the hive on the right is 11 supers high!

Any other members with exceptional crops, or at least impressive hives?? Photos or other details welcomed.

One of my hives reached 8 supers (6 full depth and 2 3/4 depth) in mid-January. However, it has yet to be seen whether the bees have filled them all up. I believe that I have had the best season for years, in the Hutt Valley western hills. - James Scott.

Gerritt Hyink (Bay of Plenty), is putting an order together for stainless steel mesh suitable for floorboards. These can be used to monitor and to help control mites. The mesh comes in 30 metre rolls. With careful cutting we should get 5 to the metre (150 hives per roll).

Cost about $1000 per roll (reduced down from $1800). Orders have to be in by 14th Feb.

If sufficient members are interested, the club will order a roll and make it available for purchase in smaller lots. Please contact Frank Lindsay (478 3367) or John Burnet (232 7863) at or before the meeting on 12^th February if you are interested.

The NBA (or rather Federated Farmers under contract to the NBA), has recently sent out notices of the levy payable by each registered beekeeper. This is $54 plus GST for the first apiary, and $26 (plus GST) for each subsequent apiary.

This levy is due for payment by 31^st March 2001 unless an exemption is sought, or deferral arrangements made. Exemptions are available only to beekeepers with 10 or fewer hives located in 3 or fewer apiaries. Exemptions must be on the form provided and involve making a statutory declaration before a Solicitor, JP, or Registrar of the Court.

The NBA has provided notice of its intention to follow up on non-payment, so members should ensure that they pay the levy, or obtain an exemption or deferral by that date.

The NBA would like beekeepers who may be eligible for exemption to pay the levy voluntarily, thereby contributing to the PMS aimed at eliminating AFB, and perhaps research into management techniques for varroa. All beekeepers will benefit from these activities of the national association.

The club's monthly newsletter and the web site have both been edited by James Scott for several years now. It is important to the club that other members learn some of the procedures and skills involved so that they can take over some or all of these responsibilities or provide backup in the event that James is unable to do it on any particular occasion.

Anyone interested in either of these ares should contact James (ph 565 0164) or at a club meeting. New ideas for the newsletter or web site are especially welcome J .

The club's annual mead competition will be in June (or possibly July), so members should be planning now on making mead. There is a recipe on the web site, and James has a copy of a paper on mead making. Anyone who would like a copy, please see James at the meeting.

Bees in a shed wall in Naeane-Taita area. Anybody want to remove them and get a little honey on the side? Contact Frank (478 3367) for details.

Help wanted with extracting - Owner in Auckland. Contact Justin Bloomfield, 4 Wairinga Road, Eastbourne. Tel 5626282

Doug Purdie, who recently moved to Australia, has donated a number of books on beekeeping to the club's library. Thank you very much Doug!

Anyone willing to collect swarms should contact Mary-Ann Lindsay on 478 3367. This is a service provided by the club to keep councils and the public "on-side" to our beekeeping activities in (sometimes) urban areas. It is quite all right to charge a (modest) fee for collecting the swarm, and you get to keep the bees!