I attended the fascinating evening organised by Fiona McGuire of Kennyhill Allotments on 25th October 2011 and would like to share information about a forthcoming course for anyone else who might be
interested in bee keeping.

The talk and slide show was given by Charles Irwin, convener of the Scottish Beekeepers Association. Charles has been keeping bees for 32 years and his love for bees and his enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowledge was evident from pictures of various forms of hive, the internal construction of the different cells, photos of his children as very young enthusiasts all donned up in protective clothing and veils, and pictures of other beekeepers including those at Auchincruive, We learned amongst other things that bees make honey, beeswax and propylus, which flowers bees use for nectar and pollen, that they work a whole patch of the same type of flower as indicated by their scouts rather than hop from one flower to a different flower which happens to be geographically close, that they can fly at 15 miles per hour, that rival queens and their entourage will fight to the death for supremacy, that a queen bee lives for 3-5 years and a drone only 8 weeks, that bees need regular observation and husbandry to prevent eg starvation in winter or poor periods even in summer and to prevent pests, diseases and predators entering the hive. An entrance hole up to a quarter of an inch will deter mice but a hole from 5/8ths of inch to 7/8ths of an inch will require a mouse guard. Bet you didn’t know that you can move a hive less than three feet or more than three miles without confusing them, but that a move of say 5/6ft will mean they don’t automatically find the hive on return, and a move of say a mile and a half will have them wasting all their energy returning to their original site before setting out to forage. More than three miles seems to reset their internal “sat nav” and they set off and relocate to their new site without difficulty. How much honey can you get in a season? Average hive 30lbs but some local Scottish beekeepers manage 70lbs! The season extends from early spring including flowering trees like Norway Acer, field acer, willows, hazels, blackthorn, horse chestnut and even the humble dandelion through rosebay willow herb, oil seed rape, meadowsweet, fruit trees, ling heather, bell heather and finishing up in autumn with such plants as ivy. So if this has whetted your taste buds you can enrol for an introductory course on beekeeping organised by Dr Peter Stromberg to be held this winter in the evenings at Partick
Burgh Halls – cost £40.

Dates as follows:-

10th Nov , 17th Nov, 24th Nov, 15th Dec all by Ian Craig – “Practical beekeeping”

26th Jan 2012 and 9th Feb by Charles Irwin – “The biology of the bee”

23rd Feb and 8th March by Dr Peter Stromberg “Disorders and disease”

Although this is an introductory course I am advised that enough information is given throughout the course to enable those interested to take their exams for the basic Bee Master certificate.

Contact pstromberg1@aol.com

Finally why do they smoke hives before moving bees?.. As the bees fear an attack they stuff themselves full of honey ready to fly away and re-establish elsewhere but get sated and soporific and less likely to sting you!

The trick in starting to keep bees is to do so under the tutelage and support of a more experienced beekeeper and this support is readily available via joining Glasgow and District beekeepers association or the Scottish association. They can help prevent swarming which causes nuisance and alarm to neighbours and the loss of a queen and a big proportion of your workers (and potential honey yield). So be mates Bee mates!