Hello Everyone,
My name is Paula Little. I am the Acting Chairperson at Fareham and District Beekeepers Association (FDBKA)
I considered I might want to keep bees when I was going out with my first boyfriend, way back in the day when flared trousers were a new thing. His dad kept bees. Everything about that glorious summer, first love, sunny days and happy memories blended into the idea of keeping bees.
Life has a sneaky way of getting in the way of dreams. It wasn't until 2005, when flares which are now called bootlegs, I actually began having fun with bees. Started out as a member of the New Forest Beekeepers Association before joining FDBKA in 2007/8.
My first set of equipment was gifted to me by my sister's sister in law, whom I had known since I was six years old. The thing I had never known was that she kept bees, until I told her that I was doing a beginner course, fifty years later!! She had spent a lifetime bee-keeping but was now giving up, so her veils, suit, honey buckets and extractor all came my way... Are all bee-keepers "good folks" or just the ones I've met?!
I love making things. The crafts associated with bee-keeping hold almost as much fascination as the bees themselves. I am an avid maker of mead. I enjoy being part of the Bees and Honey Weekend at Manor Farm where I provide a range of meads to allow the visitors to taste mead. I have run courses on mead making with my own Association, but I'm not sure I'll do it again! One of my students won first prize!!!! I make beeswax candles and flatter myself as it was part of the inspiration for my great nephew's to start up a candle business.. I'd love to say I make my my own skeps but have to admit my first attempt remains only half done over many years and it's hanging from the garage roof to keep it away from the mice... so I use a cardboard box to collect swarms.
Anyway, you can see over the years, I have derived a great deal of interest, pleasure and many good friends through bee-keeping. I accepted my nomination as Chair of FDBKA as I am grateful for the opportunity to support the hobby I love.
Paula
Fareham and District Beekeepers Association
We are a
predominantly urban group of bee keepers numbering over 100 Registered, Partner and
Country members and now in our 102nd year. We are affiliated to Hampshire
Bee Keepers Association (HBA) and the British Bee Keepers Association (BBKA).
In
spring and summer we used to hold
apiary meetings at different apiaries and held indoor meetings in autumn
and winter in Stubbington, when
we had special guest speakers on all different bee related topics. Since
the Covit19 restrictions we temporarily stopped these meetings and we
now organise monthly virtual talks on Zoom. The details of these can be
found on our Events Page.
We
also run a
training and educational apiary at Manor Farm, Bursledon, where we have
held Bees and Honey weekends for the last few years which has been a
fantastic
weekend for us and the general public.
We openly
welcome and encourage 'newcomers' to join us. We are more than happy to
invite members of the public along who may have a fear of bees or people who
really would like to know a little more about bees and bee keeping to one of
our Summer apiary meetings. We will loan you a bee suit and gloves (limited
numbers depending on the meeting) if you wish to know more please email the
secretary using the contact link, or look at the Membership page. Please visit the Education page if you are interested in taking up beekeeping.
Information if you are a member of the public seeking advice about wasps, bumblebees and other bees
The association often receives inquiries regarding bumblebees, wasps or bees nesting in buildings etc. We are a group of people who share a hobby, not a professional organisation, we have no "staff" as such. The only service we offer is that we have a team of volunteers who are willing to collect swarms of honey bees that were causing nuisance to members of the public if they can.
Bumblebees
Bumblebee nests only last the season - early spring to the first frosts of autumn- If they are not causing a nuisance they are best left alone. If you need further assistance please contact a bumblebee conservation group. Google lists a number of them.
Masonry bees, bees in buildings
The association is not able to assist with these issues. Again a google search may help you contact someone who can.
Don't forget FDBKA members can borrow the following equipment via our equipment organiser Jamie Leeper. Ring Jamie on 07989745884.
1 x 4 Frame tangential manual honey extractor which is able to take up to 4 x 14x12/commercial brood frame or 8 super frames.
1 x 3 Frame tangential manual honey extractor which is able to take up to 3 x 14x12/commercial brood frames or 6 super frames.
1 x Heather press.
COLOSS Winter Loss Survey 2020 : Fareham area
Monitor
Honey Bee Colony Losses spring 2021
Letter
from COLOSS
Dear Beekeeper.
In the last decade, elevated
losses of western honey bee colonies have been observed,
mainly in Europe and North America, but the underlying causes
still remain unclear. In 2008, European and USA honey bee
experts formed a network "COLOSS" realising that efforts by
individual countries to identify the drivers of losses were
unlikely to succeed, given the current consensus that causes
are complex and can be different between regions and between
the years. Now more than 1000 scientists are working together
in this network in specific working groups.
The
epidemiological working group have developed a standardised
questionnaire to identify the underlying causal factors of
losses and provide beekeepers sustainable management
strategies.
We now invite you to fill in the questionnaire for 2021
which you will find below.
https://www.bee-survey.com/index.php/253937
This will enable us to
compare your answers with other beekeepers. With your data
we can estimate the relative risk of colony losses for
beekeeper decisions such as Varroa treatment, migration of
colonies and comb replacement. We also aim to identify
differences in relative mortality risk between regions. This
will enable follow up research projects in specific regions.
At your option your personal
details may be recorded however we undertake not to disclose
them to any third party to protect your privacy.
Finally your help is much
appreciated. Please can I ask you to promote this survey and
the questionnaire link through this open letter to as many
English bee keepers as you are able to do so. Feel free to
share the link by email, word of mouth, newsletters or
social media and to your local bee keeping organisations. In
doing so you will be making a contribution to tackling the
problem of colony losses and ensuring that English data is
represented as an equal partner in the COLOSS European
community.
Thanking you
Dr Anthony Williams
COLOSS Survey Coordinator
for England
De Montfort University
A Member of Leicester and
Rutland Beekeepers Association
Email: anthony.williams@dmu.ac.uk
Tel: 0116 207 8468
############## More
Information ###########################
For
further information about the COLOSS colony loss core
project and past results please see the COLOSS website: https://coloss.org/core-projects/colony-losses-monitoring/
Results from previous
surveys have been published in Journal Apicultural Research,
the most recent article was published as an open access
document and can be found at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2020.1797272
