Programme of Events 2019 January 2020
Sat 4 – Baldwyns Apiary
Closed
Sat 11 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm Colonies checked for damage & weather permitting, quick check for amount of stores in colonies. Equipment maintenance. If required colonies fed with bee fondant or with dry sugar. Equipment maintenance.
Sat 18 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Colonies checked for damage. Weather permitting, quick check for amount of stores in colonies. If required colonies fed with bee fondant or with dry sugar.
Sat 18 – Ruxley Apiary
1pm Extraction of wax from old frames, technique demonstration of feeding colonies with dry sugar. Tidying of the new shed.
Sat 25 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm Colonies checked for woodpecker damage & weather permitting, quick check for stores. Assembly of hive parts bought at sales. Bring tools.
February 2020
Sat 1 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Old and new spare hive parts treated with a timber preservative
Sat 8 – Joyden Wood Community Centre, Birchwood Drive, Dartford, DA2 7NE
3pm John Chapman: Preparing honey to show and for sale.
Sat 16 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Equipment maintenance. Weather permitting, all colonies briefly checked for the amount of stores. If necessary, colonies fed bee fondant or dry sugar.
Sat 22 – Canada Water, City Business Centre, SE16 2XB
9am Introduction to Beekeeping Course, parts 1-4.
Sat 22 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm Old frames cleaned up in preparation of fitting them with foundation sheets.
Sat 29 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Old frames cleaned up in preparation of fitting them with foundation sheets.
March 2020
Sat 7 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm Colonies checked for stores, health, viability, a note taken if stocks need equalizing. In poor weather making up new frames and fitting them with foundation sheets.
Sat 14 – Venue TBC: Possibly Montrose Park Club, Hurst Road, Sidcup, DA15 9AJ
2:30pm Sam Day of AHAT: Asian Hornet Talk – what do we know.
Sat 21 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm Weather permitting, routine inspections commenced; Nuc colonies re-housed in full hives. 2nd brood box or 1st super put on, but only if the season progressed well thus far. Suitable colonies for the queen and drone rearing selected, but only if queen rearing is deemed essential.
Sat 28 – Canada Water, City Business Centre, SE16 2XB
9am Introduction to Beekeeping Course, parts 5-8.
Sat 28 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Weather permitting, routine inspections commenced; 2nd brood box or 1st super put on, but only if the season progressed well thus far. Suitable colonies for the queen and drone rearing selected, should queen rearing be planned.
April 2020
Sat 4 – Ruxley Apiary
9:00am – 12:00 Basic Beekeeping Course: 1st Practical – Basics,
5 good reasons for inspecting a colony
1pm – 3pm Basic Beekeeping Course: 2nd Practical – Swarm prevention.
Sat 4 – Ruxley Apiary
3pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention measures undertaken. Supers added to the colonies if needed. 2nd best colony prepared for raising drones for the queen rearing programme and fed with proteins rich pollen substitutes.
Sat 4 – The Spring Convention in Harper Adams University,
Newport, Shropshire, TF10 8NB)
Sat 11 – Baldwyns Apiary – Easter Saturday
2pm Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention measures undertaken. Supers added to the colonies if needed. 2nd best colony prepared for raising drones for the queen rearing programme and fed with proteins rich pollen substitutes..
Sat 18 – Venue TBC
2:30pm Steve Riley of Westerham Beekeepers: Finding Varroa tolerant bees.
Sat 25 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check. Old frames rendered down.
May 2020
Sat 2 – Ruxley Apiary
9:00am – 12:00 Basic Beekeeping Course: 3rd Practical – Dealing with difficult colonies. Uniting of colonies and re-queening.
1pm – 3pm Basic Beekeeping Course: 4th Practical – Making up frames, feeding, etc., if time allows, practical demonstration how to assemble a brood box (National). Conclusion.
Sat 2 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check. If the queen rearing should take place, a colony, which is selected for the queen rearing programme, is to be prepared.
Sat 9 – Ruxley Apiary
1pm – 3pm Queen rearing part 1: Grafting young larvae into queen cell cups
Sat 9 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check.
Sat 16 – Ruxley Apiary
1pm – 2pm Queen rearing part 2: Check on grafting success. Preparation of the mating nucs.
Sat 16 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check.
Mon 18 – Ruxley Apiary
Time: TBA – Queen rearing part 3: Distribution of ripe queen cells into mating nucs.
Sat 23 – Ruxley Apiary
1pm – 2pm Queen rearing part 4: Check on virgin queens emergence from queen cells.
Sat 23 – Baldwyns Apiary
2pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check. Supers added.
Sat 30 – Ruxley Apiary
1pm – 2pm Queen rearing part 5: Check if the new queens are starting to lay.
Sat 30 – Ruxley Apiary
2pm – Routine inspection of colonies, swarm prevention, Varroa entrapment frames check. Due to cold weather and June gap, colonies fed if required.