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Varroa treatment, see below

You should have finished feeding your bees. Make sure your hives are prepared for winter. You can pick up your oxalic varroa treatment at the December 5th meeting. See below.

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Better season Jan ’25
Winter Social 2024
Report of AGM 2024
Beekeeping for Beginners course
Insulating hives Oct 24
Winter preparation 2024

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Reports
Better season Jan ’25
Winter Social 2024
Report of AGM 2024
Insulating hives Oct 24
Winter preparation 2024
Honey Processing 2024
Varroa update 2024
I-Spy session 2024
Improvers day 25/5/24
Swarm Control 27/4/24
Cut-outs and queen marking
Island Beekeeping Mar ’24
Keep Calm, Feb ’24
Winter Social-Tips and Tricks
Bee Microbiome 10/23
Bee Myths, April ’23
Gardening for Bees Mar ,23
Queenright queen rearing, Feb ’23
Asian hornet threat, Jan ’23

Tribute to David Wiscombe 1931 – 2024

East Devon Beekeepers were deeply saddened to learn of the death of David Wiscombe at the age of 92. He made a major contribution to the development of the branch, which he served with dedication and infectious enthusiasm for well over half a century.

David taught Rural Studies at Axminster Secondary School and this included responsibility for the school apiary. There are current branch members who were taught by him then and have been keeping bees ever since and others who have resumed beekeeping as an interest in later life, having been inspired by him when at school. At the same time, he was active in the local beekeeping branch (then known as Uplyme Branch), which at that time numbered around 25 people. Over the following 50 plus years he made a huge contribution to branch activities. He was instrumental in setting up the branch apiary at Summerleaze Farm in 1976 as it enabled members, particulary novice beekeepers, to have continuity in learning about colonies, their development and management.

Prior to that, practical demonstrations were undertaken on a rotational basis to members own apiaries. In addition he gave talks in the winter, ran classes in construction of various beekeeping equipment, such as mini-nucs for queen rearing. He also served on the committee for many years, in time becoming first Chairman and then President. He then went on to run the beekeeping course offered at River Cottage for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. He was author of Beekeeping for Dummies, part of a well-known series of educational books, and numerous other articles.

He will be long remembered by many beekeepers both locally and further afield whose first steps in beekeeping he guided and whose lives have been enriched by his wisdom, friendship and kindness.
We send our condolences to his family.

Winter Oxalic Acid Treatment

You have Varroa mites in your hives, and you monitor the numbers so that you can decide when to treat. Winter is a good time to apply an effective treatment. The mites lay their eggs into the brood cells and as they mature they feed on the pupa and pass on diseases, both of which deform the bee. So, in winter, when there is little or no brood, the mites will all be on the adult bees, where they can be effectively treated by the oxalic acid.

Rosemary Maggs has prepared your oxalic acid solution for this winter. The solution is a mixture of oxalic acid and sugar, which is dribbled over the seams of bees, then the bees pass it between themselves during their cleaning process.

The solution is applied with a syringe. If you are new to this, you will find it helpful to practise with some water in your kitchen, so then when you visit your hives, you will find it easier to dribble the correct amount onto each seam, (practise with your gloves on).

Oxalic acid is a natural substance, but it is an acid, so wear protective equipment when handling the solution. The strength of the solution is most important. Too weak and it won’t kill the varroa, too strong damages the bees. So, when we supply it to you, the solution is at the right strength and stored in a labelled jar. You should store this in a safe place until you use it. Warm the solution to body temperature beforehand. Take it with your syringe to your bees in a pocket to keep them warm. After the application you should thoroughly wash the jar, your gloves and the syringe. The acid can burn holes in some types of suit, so wash that too.

The best time to apply the solution is when there are no sealed brood cells. This normally happens after a prolonged spell of cold weather, then on the next warmer day, do the treatment. Try to have the hive open for only a minute or so (no problem if you have practised beforehand). Count the number of seams of bees, load the syringe with the correct quantity (5ml per seam), then dribble down the seams.

Ideally, aim to treat no later than mid-January as your queens will come back into laying mode. Check the long-term weather forecasts and plan accordingly.

EDBK Winter Social 5th December 2024

Cooking with Honey

At the start of the meeting Hilary Kirkcaldie, our President, gave a tribute to David Wiscombe, a founder member of the group who passed away recently. This was followed by a minute of respectful silence. The full text of the tribute can be found HERE.

The Tasting

Attended by nearly 50 members

Over the last year a beekeeper from Bradford BKA called Diane Shepstone has published a series of recipes in BBKA News featuring honey as an ingredient. The illustrations looked enticing so we asked our members if they would be prepared to try some of these recipes and share the results with everyone at a winter meeting.

The response was immediate, with eight intrepid volunteers taking away a recipe of their choice to practice and prepare for the tasting event. Although this was not seen as a cookery competition, we also devised a simple scoring system, just to find out how popular the dishes were.

Who selected which dishes?

We had two savoury dishes, Nick with Honey Glazed Sesame Tofu and Roger with Honey Glazed Brussel Sprouts (not a BBKA recipe).

Ingredients

750g Brussel sprouts.
15ml cooking oil, what ever type you use.
20g honey (I used fermented).
Salt (quantity to suit your dietary preference).
30ml balsamic vinegar.
Optional, 1-2 cloves garlic (minced).

Cooking
This recipe is quick and easy and can be modified to suit your tastes. I preheated the oven at 200°C while preparing the sprouts (slicing in half cooks more quickly).
If using garlic, mix oil and garlic, then toss the sprouts in the mixture, otherwise just use the oil.
Now spread the sprouts on a baking tray and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Make a mixture of the honey and balsamic vinegar to brush the sprouts with. Put back in the oven until they are crisp and brown. Use salt to taste.
Perfect for a Christmas lunch!

Honey glazed sesame tofu

Honey Glazed Sprouts

Honey pumpkin scones

Earl Grey tea bread

Coconut crumbles

Honeyed Tarte Tatin

Clementine Cranachan with Honey Shortbread

Toasted Pecan, Olive oil and Honey Granola

Val tried Honey Pumpkin Scones made with pumpkin or butternut squash. Milly made the Honey and Earl Grey Tea Bread. Jessica tackled the Coconut Crumbles while Anita M produced the Honeyed Tarte Tatin (actually, a recipe by Nigella). Finally, Annie made a splendid Clementine Cranachan with Honey Shortbread, while Anita R completed the offerings with Toasted Pecan, Olive oil and Honey Granola. The sources of the recipes are listed at the end of this report, should you wish to try them.

Some comments gleaned from the cooks and tasters are worth noting. A common problem with honey recipes is compensating for the water content of the honey. It can easily make recipes, such as shortbread or scones, too hard or too crumbly. Our cooks did well to judge water content about right.

Another problem area is judging cooking time versus cooking temperature. A short cook at high temperature is liable to burn the honey, whereas too low a temperature will fail to develop the full flavour of the ingredients.

After introducing the dishes and the cooks to the assembled army of tasters we were invited to 'get tasting'. When each taster had sampled as many dishes as they wished they were asked to put a slip of paper with the name of their favourite dish into a central collection box. At the end of the evening, these slips were counted to give a rough indication of the popularity of each recipe.

And the favourites were.....

3rd Honeyed Tarte Tatin
2nd Honey Glazed Sesame Tofu
1st Toasted Pecan, Olive Oil and Honey Granola
When asked why the preference, people cited versatility, healthy eating and quick and easy to make.

If anyone needed more food or drink there were mince pies plus tea and coffee on offer.

As usual, our winter Social would not be complete without the Grand Raffle. Organised by Kim and Alasdair, the prizes were artfully displayed, encouraging members to buy lots of tickets.

Val warmly congratulated our volunteer cooks, refreshment organisers and everyone who had helped to make the evening go smoothly. The sources of the recipes are given below:

BBKA News issue	Recipe
January 2024	Clementine cranachan and honey shortbread
March 2024	Toasted pecan, olive oil and honey granola
April 2024	Honey and Earl Grey tea bread
May 2024	Honey glazed sesame tofu
July 2024	Coconut crumbles
September 2024	Honeyed Tarte Tatin
October 2024	Honey pumpkin scones

LETS SPARKLE

A Talk and Presentation at the December Social meeting 2022
Introduced by Val Bone, with Nick Silver and John Badley. 44 people attended the evening.

Introduction by Val Bone: Our Honey judge at Honiton Show said, 'Show honey should sparkle', hence the title. We aim to look at how you go that little bit further to produce honey for the Show table. Just as with livestock at the Show, the competitors spend time turning an everyday animal into a perfectly washed, groomed and polished specimen. It's the same with honey. We have on show two perfectly good, wholesome jars of honey straight from stock, but how do you achieve that little extra to present it as 'Show Honey'? Nick will now take you through those steps to produce the SPARKLE!

Nick. Processing Run Honey

The schematic below shows the steps necessary for processing run honey. Liquifying (if the honey is set), straining to remove debris, settling to remove bubbles and conditioning to produce the sparkle.

How much heating?

Honey subjected to heating will produce a breakdown substance called hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde (HMF) which has a legal limit in honey of 40mg/kg honey. The graph below shows the relationship between Time and Temperature. Following the blue dashed lines, a temperature of 40°C for c9days will reach the 40mg limit, whereas a temperature of 50°C will only take 2-3 days to reach the same amount. At 60°C the safe limit is well under 1 day!

Graph of Temperature vs Time for HMF production — HMF depends on temperature and time

Liquify

This can be achieved by either heating in a warming cabinet (below left) or a bain marie (below right). Stirring occasionally will speed up the process. Hooper suggests 52°C for 2 days. Basterfield Honey Farm suggest 'up to 50°C'

Strain

For the hobbyist beekeeper, straining immediately the honey is removed from the hive and spun from the frames is an easy option (below left). The honey is still warm so will flow through your straining system easily. Double stainless sieves recommended (coarse followed by fine) as they can be quickly washed and dried if blocking occurs.

Straining liquified honey can cause problems with sugar crystals blinding the mesh. The heated sieve (below right) is a useful piece of kit for speeding up the operation. The heated conical mesh is 350 micron, followed by a 200 micron straining cloth over the settling tank.

Settle

Settling allows any bubbles to rise to the top of the tank prior to bottling. Without settling your honey jars will look like the example on the left. Settling should produce sparkling honey shown on the right. Hooper suggests '24 hours in a tall, narrow tank'.

Condition

Conditioning removes all the remaining tiny crystals and will ensure clear sparkling run honey for 3-6 months. Hooper recommends 62°C for 1 hour. Basterfield Honey Farm recommend 62°C for 30 mins.

See images below. In either case, add the water to just below the lid. Jars should not sit directly on a hot metal container. Cool rapidly after heating.

John. Hints and Tips for Award-winning Honey

Meet our Honey Judge

Jack Mummery

BBKA Senior Judge

Checking head space aroma

What is the Judge looking for?

Read the Schedule !

Class 1. Two matching 454g (1 lb) jars of Light English Honey.
Class 2. Two matching 454g (1 lb) jars of Medium English Honey.
Class 3. Two matching 454g (1 lb) jars of Dark English Honey.
Class 8. Six matching transparent jars of English Honey, minimum jar size 345g (12 oz), labelled as for sale...

There are also Novice Classes for honey. A novice is anyone who has NOT won a prize at any Honey Show.

Class 16. Two 454g (1 lb) jars Light English Honey.
Class 17. Two 454g (1 lb) jars Medium or Dark English Honey.
Class 18. Two 454g (1 lb) jars soft set English Honey.
Class 19. Three 454g (1 lb) matching jars of English Honey.

Honey should be:

Free from bubbles, crystals or debris.
All jars filled to the same level.
Once filled, keep jars upright.
Put lids on immediately to maximise head space aroma.

Do try this at home!

Checking for bubbles, crystals and debris.

Jars should be:

Matching i.e., from the same batch.
Must be spotlessly clean.
Free of chips or damage.
Polish the outside when on display.

Lids should be:

Matching i.e., from the same batch.
Must be spotlessly clean.
No rust or scratches.
Polish the outside when on display.

Lids must be spotlessly clean.

Some lids are manufactured with a powder on the polyurethane seal. This is what will happen if you do not wash your lids!!

The Joy of Winning!

East Devon branch win the Branch Cup (most points in the Show)

We look forward to seeing your honey and other exhibits at the Honiton Show on August 3rd 2023!