Newent Branch of Gloucestershire Beekeepers
A site for all the happenings at the Newent Branch of the Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association
This page at the National Bee Unit website contains reports, reviews and letters from NBU inspectors. Newent BKA is in the Western Region.
Click here to open the NBU page
NBKA is in the Western Region, and Jonathan Axe is our Regional Inspector (07867 151641). Liz Gardner is the Seasonal Bee Inspector for Gloucestershire (07867 351610). The report for 2022 carries maps of the identified outbreaks of EFB and AFB, and interesting statistics on the number of apiaries and colonies.
This video shows you how to make a monitoring trap for Asian hornets and is designed to complement the NBU’s step-by-step fact sheet: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downlo…
Find out how to identify Asian hornets using this helpful guide: https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonn…
If you think you have seen an Asian hornet, please notify the Great British Non-Native Species Secretariat by emailing alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can report sightings via their website: http://www.nonnativespecies.org/home/…
Beekeepers can find more information about the Asian hornet on the National Bee Unit’s website: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index….
Place 30g Thymol crystals in a honey jar, add 5ml of isopropyl alcohol to the crystals, place jar into a water bath of boiling water to speed up the dissolving process.
In another jar, pour in 140 ml of boiling water and add 1 teaspoon of lecithin granules, stir well, and place this jar into a water bath of boiling water, stirring often for about ten minutes or so until most of the lecithin granules have dissolved, you can then strain this mixture through a tea strainer or similar to remove any granules that have not dissolved fully.
Simply add the dissolved thymol to this mix and shake well. It will look just like a jar of milk.
To use add 5ml to each gallon of syrup and stir well. The syrup will go milky.
If the mixture forms any crystals at a later date, tip into an old pan and reheat (outdoors) or place the jar into a hot water bath reheat.
This mixture will keep indefinitely.
John Whitaker
Newent Branch of Gloucestershire Beekeepers 