The Buzz from the Branch News Letter – May

Dear Member,

HONITON SHOW VOLUNTEERS 📢📢📢📢📢📢

This is the first call for all those of you wanting to steward in the Bees and Honey tent at the Honiton Show this year. THURSDAY 7TH AUGUST. A shift is circa three hours and can be anything from representing us on the information displays, to candle rolling, to talking about live bees and more. It’s a great day and once your shift is done, you are free to explore the whole show for the rest of the day, as your reward for stewarding is your free entry ticket. Please inform Keith (charandale@gmail.com ) as soon as possible if you would like to offer your services. Thank you.

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Apart from the fact it’s NO MOW MAY, THE HOT TOPIC IS OF COURSE SWARMS – THEY’RE OUT THERE.
HENCE THE REMAINDER OF THIS MONTH’S BUZZ IS CONCENTRATING TOTALLY ON:
HOW YOU GET ONE?
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HEAR OF ONE NEEDING COLLECTION

Here’s reminder about our swarm list:
If you want to go on the swarm list send your request to Stan Wroe (see contacts list below) with the necessary details:
Your name.
Your address and if different your apiary address.
A What Three Words is also very useful.
Your home landline number.
Your mobile number.
Your email address.
Please be ready to receive the swarm. That means your hive is set up and waiting to receive the bees.

If someone alerts you (because you are known to be a beekeeper) then here is the swarm procedure at East Devon Beekeepers that we can all follow:
We are all responsible beekeepers and therefore collectively responsible for swarms and the reporting of.
How to report

Use the list of swarm collectors under the Swarms tab on our branch website (eastdevonbk.co.uk) and telephone the nearest appropriate collector. If they do not answer or are unavailable then please telephone any collector to ensure that the swarm has been reported.

Please do not use text or email as you do not know if the collector has received it

Information to assist the collector

In no particular order:

Is it definitely honeybees? We always try to get the reporter of any swarm to send a picture to confirm.

Address, contact name & number. Location of the swarm – in a shrub, on a fence, height etc.

The majority of the collectors do not collect swarms from within wall cavities, chimneys etc. However such swarms can still be reported and we will attempt to provide advice and possible alternatives.

What the collectors do

They have a WhatsApp group to communicate with each other when swarms are reported.

On most occasions someone will be available to collect the swarm and will liaise with the house owner. However as they are volunteers there will be occasions where no one is available. When this happens whoever took the report of the swarm will speak with the house owner to let them know.

Where a collector does attend and collect a swarm they update the other collectors via the WhatsApp group.

Swarms collected are usually distributed to those members who have registered as needing one. Beginners are given priority over existing members.

Stan Wroe is the Swarm Co-ordinator and he manages the list of members, both new & existing, who are looking for a swarm each season.

Stan’s role, however, does not mean that any & every swarm should be reported through him. He has certain postcodes that he will cover. He will see, through the WhatsApp group, details of any swarm reported to any of the collectors.

Other Information

For swarms reported on the edges of our region the BBKA swarm search facility should be used as members of other branches may well be geographically better placed to collect – for example we have had reports from Charmouth (because of its proximity to Axminster) where the nearest collectors are members of Dorset branch.
The BBKA search facility in the form of a distribution map with red tags, can be found on their website and we also have a link to it from the Swarm tab on our website.

Finally we do not charge for our service.

Please get in touch if you you need clarification about anything and I have a question – Do you keep a top bar hive??? We have been asked by a member from another association who would like to communicate with any of our members about this type of hive, as he is interested in keeping one, but would like to hear of the experience of others first.
Let me know please. Thank you.

Val🐝

Contacts:

Chair: Alasdair Bruce. chair24@edbk.co.uk

Treasurer: Keith Bone. charandale@gmail.com

Secretary: Val Bone. val.valbone@gmail.com

Swarms: Stan Wroe. stanwroe@aol.com