Apis-UK January 2003

EDITORIAL
Welcome to the first edition of Apis UK for the New Year from a very cold Andalucia.
As promised we deal firstly with the GMO survey which despite many comments to the contrary, I think was an interesting exercise in bringing together peoples' thoughts. So what did you have to say? Unfortunately several readers did not want their letters to be published and so I was left with 4, one of which I lost. However, 4 are better than none. So here we go, just 2 days later I read a report that claims that farmers growing certain GM crops may actually be benefiting insects and the environment! (See below).

THE GMO SURVEY
Meaningless! Polarising the issue! Wrong questions asked! A disservice! Confused! Achieves nothing! Just some of the comments received referring to the GMO survey. You can see some of the letters in the letters to the editor section of the newsletter. All interesting and all expressing as many different viewpoints as there are writers. (And to the gentleman who wrote that I am polarising the issue, I must humbly apologise. I have lost the letter by clicking the wrong bit of the screen). But we can start with that one. Another writer in a letter not for publication wrote that I hadn't polarised it sufficiently and with this I tend to agree. The wrong questions? Probably. Ask 100 people and you will get 100 questions that you should have asked. A meaningless survey? Possibly in terms of numbers it is not an important survey, but it is not a scientific exercise, and all surveys have meaning if only to show and remind those who try and avoid the issue that there is a big issue that needs to be addressed. Surveys also stir readers into thinking about what they think of the issue even if all they do is write in and slam the survey. They share their thoughts with others. This adds to the knowledge of others and stirs readers to think even more. With one reader I had a series of exchanges on the matter by email. I learnt a lot and I hope he did too. I believe that it makes many readers realise that they don't know enough about the subject to answer. If following that, even just one person decides to do something about it, then that is all to the good. As for being confused; who isn't? I could go on, but will close on what I believe has been an interesting survey and to genuinely thank those who participated, especially those who wrote in. Interpreting the results I leave to you. I was surprised by them, and I believe others will be too. It certainly isn't a black and white issue.
That magnificent American writer, scientist, teacher and conservationist Rachel Carson wrote in 1962 (Silent Spring):
"The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man..... It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons and that in turning them against the insects it have also turned them against the earth".
She was writing about insecticides and herbicides, but could equally be writing about the science of genetic modification and were she alive now, I believe she would. I personally think that she sums it up nicely.

If GMO research was stopped completely, do you think: (94 votes)
A. We would be abandoning a young science that if perfected may bring enormous benefits to mankind and the planet	36 Votes
B. We would be saving mankind and the planet from potential or actual disaster	31 Votes
C. You don’t know enough about the subject.	27 Votes

OTHER MATTERS
On to other matters. The decision of the trustees of the Moir collection of books to lend them to the National Library of Scotland (See in the news below) is very welcome. Let's hope that many more people are able to access such a fund of apicultural literature.
And an MBE for services to Beekeeping (See below).
How marvellous. Many congratulations to Michael Badger MBE. (For those readers from overseas, the MBE is an honour bestowed by HM the Queen upon very well deserving citizens for excellent services rendered in their particular field).

And finally, another new site (well it will be new in February). www.interhoney.com. (See news below). I'm always impressed with entrepreneurial spirits trying new ventures and I really hope that this one succeeds. I doubt that beekeepers would need to use its services, but who knows?
A happy New Year to you all and I hope that you enjoy this month's Newsletter. Keep in touch. If you have something to say on any aspect of apiculture, share it with us.

David Cramp. Editor.

NEWS
INTERHONEY.COM
A new site to rival Interflora commences operations in February. The aim of these brave entrepreneurs is to provide a personalised gift honey delivery service to any part of the world within 48 hours. See their site at http://www.interhoney.com

GM CROPS 'WILL HELP WILDLIFE'
Farmers who plant some genetically modified (GM) crops could help endangered species to thrive, UK scientists believe. They say their work is the first to show there can be environmental benefits from GM strains. They argue that crops can be managed to produce ample weeds and insects for wildlife, without sacrificing yields. The full story can be found at the BBC News Online website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2658401.stm

The Apimondia Apitherapy Commission would like to report on the symposium it organised in Havana, Cuba on 14-18 October 2002. The symposium was sponsored by the Ministry of Health and the Callixto Garcia Faculty of Medicine and was held in that faculty's teaching hospital. The Commission would particularly like to thank Cubana de Aviacion, which has always supported it and allowed foreign participants to benefit from a preferential rate.

More than 180 people from 14 different countries took part in the symposium. Of these individuals, 2/3 followed Level 1 and the apitherapy practitioners participated at Level 2. The Apitherapy Commission sent six professors who worked for the first time alongside five Cuban professors to pass on knowledge of apitherapy. Some 53 health institutions from all over the island were represented. During the opening ceremony, Dr Leoncio Padron, the national representative for natural medicine speaking for the Minister of Health, reaffirmed the national dimension of apitherapy, congratulated the teams on the results achieved and prompted new students to cultivate a passion for this health solution. The Dean of the Faculty, Dr Eva Miralles Cáceres, and the Director-General of the Hospital, Dr. Armando Guerra Vilanova, also welcomed those participating in the symposium while delighting in the leading position occupied by the university and the Callixto Garcia Hospital from year to year. In his inaugural speech, the Director-General informed the assembly of the important role played by apitherapy in his hospital. All of the 34 departments making up the hospital make some use or other of the therapy. This information confirmed to all the participants not only the potential of this knowledge, but also the specific successes enjoyed in the past six years.

Professor Théodore Cherbuliez spoke of the 2,600 cases treated under this method, the recognition of the pharmacopoeia of bee products as a source of medication and the sharing of these results with the other countries present. "Cuba has been able to open its doors and offer its skills to allow others across the world access to this revolution in the field of health. The Commission can be justifiably proud of this step, which will principally allow the countries of the South to benefit from the skills acquired", stated the President of the Apitherapy Commission in his inaugural speech.

The symposium was held over 5 days, offering 40 hours of courses. At each level, both theoretical and clinical aspects were touched on. The students, who studied biology, pharmacy and medicine, were able to learn in depth about this natural medicine. The friendly atmosphere of this international gathering led to many very interesting discussions.

Before the closing ceremony, each participant was issued an attendance certificate. A question-and-answer session allowed all the unvoiced questions to be asked, especially those on the subject of the next course. Our President, Professor Théodore Cherbuliez, reaffirmed that the Apitherapy Commission was always available to the Minister of Health to continue and widen the teaching of apitherapy, not only via symposia but also via ongoing training, as has been the case for the past six years in Cuba. He emphasised that many other countries were waiting for this health solution, but that for the Commission, Cuba would remain the first country in both heart and deed. The symposium closed on that humanitarian note.

INSECTS AND EVOLUTION
The science journal 'Nature' reports that scientists have shown that some insects lost and then regained their ability to fly.
Researchers had thought that it was impossible for an organism to re-evolve a complex trait such as wings and flying, but now it appears that certain stick insects have proven them wrong.
After examining DNA from 35 species of stick insects, evolutionary biologist Michael Whiting and other researchers at the Brigham Young University in Utah found that wings had been lost in some of the primitive insects and then re-evolved at least four times over tens of millions of years.
"Traditional thought for the last two centuries has been that wings had only evolved once in evolution but our study demonstrates that in stick insects wings were re-evolved on multiple occasions," Whiting said.
This research challenges challenges basic beliefs of evolution that wings evolved only once in insects and that if a trait is lost is cannot be regained.
It also opens a new direction for research because it shows that once a complex trait has evolved it can be maintained over long evolutionary period even if it isn't apparent on the outside.
Over a 50-million year period, even though the stick insects did not have wings the genes for creating them appeared to have been maintained. Thus the insects had the ability to generate wings when they needed them," Whiting explained.
He likened his observation to a mammalogist discovering a whale walking around on legs.
"It really is quite a remarkable and revolutionary idea," he added. Scientists had believed that once a trait was lost it was gone forever because the genes needed to create it would be changed, but Whiting said the genetic instructions to produce wings and legs are probably related and can probably be switched on and off over millions of years to enable the insects to better adapt to their environment. He suspects re-evolution may have occurred in other species including cockroaches and different insects and possibly other animals. (I wonder if that is why we humans often dream of flying. Perhaps we once did! Ed).

John Brown
I've been asked by my family to get in touch with the beekeeping community online and pass on the bad news that my uncle, John Brown, passed away on new year's day. He wrote the brief on Varroa entitled "Varroa Can Be Overcome" that is available at http://www.beedata.com/data2/green_husks.htm

I understand that a lot of people have been very grateful to him for his insight on this subject. My uncle never had access to the Internet himself and had asked a friend to post this information online to help others with this problem. Yours sincerely, Steven Palmer grondle@aol.com

Jonn Pearce
It's sad news to report the passing of a well known Kent beekeeper and Bromley branch member John Pearce. John was an excellent beekeeper and a superb showman at national and local show and will be missed tremendously by his beekeeping friends. We at Bromley branch send our condolences to his wife and family. Steven Turner

Michael has been actively involved with beekeeping since a childhood. He has been involved in all spheres of beekeeping he has been the National President of the British Beekeepers' Association and its Chairman. In addition, the Chairman (twice) of the Yorkshire Beekeepers' Association and its General Secretary and is The Yorkshire Agricultural Society's representative to the Yorkshire Beekeepers' Association. He has been the Chief Honey Steward at the Gt. Yorkshire Show for over twenty years and a Senior Honey Judge for many years, participating at all the top agricultural shows in the British Isles.

Mr Badger is the Secretary General of the National Council of Beekeeping Associations in the United Kingdom a role that involves regular attendance at the COPA-COGECA meetings for the EU Honey Working Party at Brussels. He gives lectures worldwide, in April he will be meeting beekeepers in San Francisco and Los Angeles with visits to others in the third world during 2004.

Out of beekeeping Michael is a Director of an Environmental Management Consultancy and a publishing house. He his married to Hilary and they have three children.

A NEW BOOK FROM AN ACKNOWLEDGED EXPERT
When Leslie Goodman* finally lost her fight against lung cancer in 1998, (see obituary in Bee World 79(2) 1998), she left behind her vision for an accessible, authoritative reference work for bee scientists, undergraduates, and beekeepers.

Her aim was to describe some of the topics in bee biology which would target a broad audience. She left the partially completed manuscript of the book to the trustees of the L.J Goodman Insect Physiology Research Trust with a request that the book be completed and published by the International Bee Research Association (IBRA). The Chair of the Trust, Richard Cooter* together with Pamela Munn of IBRA had the responsibility to complete the book on her behalf. They are both now proud to announce that the finished book entitled 'Form and Function in the Honeybee' is to be published this month. The book contains over 340 diagrams, micrographs and colour illustrations that are carefully integrated in the text, this book serves equally well as an expert guide to the physiology and anatomy of the honey bee and as an introduction to this fascinating field for students and others. The chapters take the reader through the major structures and activities of the honey bee providing a comprehensive understanding of how and why it behaves as it does.

The book is available from IBRA at a pre publication price of £45 (prior to 31 Jan so get there quickly) or £55 thereafter. P&P is £5, 8 Europe, £15.50 elsewhere. More details can be obtained from www.ibra.org.uk.

*Dr Leslie Goodman became lecturer in the department of Zoology and comparative physiology at Queen Mary College London. She later became a Senior Lecturer and then in 1977 a Reader in Zoology in the School of Biological Sciences. Her research interests were chiefly in the field of neurobiology and insect physiology in particular, visual physiology. She started her book 'Form and Function in the Honey bee' which was almost completed by her death in 1998.

*Richard Cooter was formerly Professor of Applied Entomology and Head of the Agricultural Resources Management Department, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich.

The Moir Rare Book Collection consists of 233 volumes relating to bees and beekeeping. We've all grown up with bees as part of our cultural heritage as well as with honey on the breakfast- or tea-table. In the ancient world honey was important as a sweetener, and early on people saw a resemblance between the production of honey by bees and literary composition, especially in poetry. Another thread in literature and thought has been the well-governed community of the hive and the communal altruism of bees, as described by. The point is that bees are not merely creatures encountered in a zoological textbook, but mean a lot more to us.

The Moir Library, of which this is part, is a collection of books that was formed in Scotland by John William Moir, and we were very pleased to welcome his grandson, Archimandrite John Maitland Moir, the Orthodox Chaplain to the University of Edinburgh, to the Library.

Born in Edinburgh in 1851, John Moir, with his younger brother Frederick, inspired by the example of David Livingstone, emigrated in 1877 to southeast Africa where they were initially involved in the creation of new routes enabling ivory to be transported without slave-gangs. Later, he turned to farming in present-day Malawi, and took up beekeeping because his crops required pollenation. Returning to Scotland in 1890, he settled in Edinburgh and beekeeping became his hobby. In 1912 he became one of the original members and the first vice-chairman of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association, and he then started to collect bee literature in a serious way. The more books he acquired, the more he actively searched for those he lacked. And some of his surviving papers show that he drove a hard bargain. One of our exhibits is a copy of the 1634 edition of Charles Butler's Feminine Monarchie that he acquired in 1920 from the famous London booksellers Bernard Quaritch. The receipt accompanying it shows that he had been charged the full price of £2/0/0d., but pleaded for a discount on the grounds that the Scottish Beekeepers' Association had bought books from Quaritch before and that its funds were 'almost exhausted'. I'm sure that Quaritch often received letters like this, but Moir got his discount.

In 1916, when his collection numbered 167 volumes, Moir willed it to the Scottish Beekeepers' Association, but later he changed his plans to give his fellow members the benefit of the collection during his lifetime. To this end, he presented them to the Association on the understanding that he would remain Honorary Librarian and house the collection at his home. He died in 1940, but the previous October his library, which by then numbered 1,799 books and pamphlets and 489 volumes of periodicals, had been transferred into the custody of the Edinburgh Public Libraries, where, except for the Rare Book Collection, the remainder continues to be housed, at present in Fountainbridge Branch Library.

So, a collection carefully assembled in Scotland by an enterprising Scot. Most of the books deposited date from before 1801. There are also some Scottish books in it - some very rare Scottish books. Consider for example the book by Robert Russell of Elgin. At the age of 15, this man - or boy - wrote a treatise on bees and beekeeping and designed and cast his own typeface, set the type, and then built his own press in order to print his work. He was known to have made only two copies of his first edition, dated 1822, and of these only one has been traced, in Cornell University in the United States. How Moir would have loved to have acquired a copy of this, but, alas, he never did! But some years later, in 1834, Russell brought out a 'much enlarged, corrected, and improved' second edition, and this - one of only three known copies - is in the Moir Collection.

The Moir Collection is an international collection too with foreign-language books reaching back to 1525 (an edition of Pliny's Natural History). Among the items from mainland Europe pride of place must go to a 1625 engraving. The compound microscope was invented at the end of the 16th century, and in 1618 Francesco Stelluti and other members of the Accademia dei Lincei, Rome, which had been founded in 1603 and of which Galileo was a member, used a microscope to produce enlarged drawings of bees: these were the earliest drawings of insects prepared with the help of a microscope, and the 1625 engraving by Matthaeus Greuter from the Accademia's drawing is the earliest engraving from a drawing prepared with the help of a microscope. Only four copies of this engraving are known; the other three are in Rome, Florence, and Pisa. Another rare item within the Moir Collection is a 1630 edition of an Italian translation of the Satires of the Roman poet Persius, published by Francesco Stelluti and incorporating a re-engraving of this drawing - the first illustration prepared with a microscope to be included in a printed book. This image was adapted by the Scottish Beekeepers' Association for its bookplate.

This outstanding collection - one of the finest of bee literature in the world - is on deposit to secure improved public access both now and in the future. The Scottish Beekeepers' Association has always permitted access to its early books, but we hope to promote this rare material and make it available to visitors, answer enquiries about it from remote users, and provide an in-house reprographic and digitisation service - all with the proper safeguards so that access to these resources can be provided for future generations as well as our own.

For further information on this release please contact:
Fiona Morrison/Alison Rae
National Library of Scotland
tel 0131 622 4807
email f.morrison@nls.uk

ORGANISATION: Northamptonshire BKA
TITLE: Beekeeping Taster Day
SUBJECT: Open a hive and experience bees close-up. Sample honey and see how mead, beeswax candles, beeswax polish, hand creams and other products derived from the hive are easily made.
VENUE: Knuston Hall, Knuston, Nr. Irchester, Wellingborough
DATE: 17 May 2003
TIME: 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
FEE: £25.00 per person, to include coffee, lunch, afternoon tea.
CONTACT: Margaret Holland Tel: 01327 857328 E-mail: secretary@northantsbees.org.uk WEB SITE: www.northantsbees.org.uk

ORGANISATION: Northamptonshire BKA
TITLE: One Day Refresher Course
SUBJECT: Revision of the basics of beekeeping for those new to beekeeping with an opportunity to take the BBKA Basic Exam (optional).
VENUE: Knuston Hall, Knuston, Nr Irchester, Wellingborough
TIME: 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
DATE: 28 June 2003
FEE: £26.00 per person, to include coffee, lunch, afternoon tea.
CONTACT: Margaret Holland Tel: 01327 857328 E-mail: secretary@northantsbees.org.uk WEB SITE: www.northantsbees.org.uk

ORGANISATION: Ipswich & E Suffolk BKA
TITLE: Beekeeping for Beginners
DATE: 24th March 2003
CONTACT: Jeremy Quinlan jquinlan@freebie.net

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Event organisers are welcome to forward dates and details of their events to the editor (by e-mail) for incorporation on this page.

Saturday 22 February 2003 - SBKA 2003 LECTURE DAY. The Somerset Beekeepers' Association will be holding their Lecture Day on (Those who already have their 2003 diaries, please note this is a different date to the one announced at the 2002 Lecture Day) We are putting together, what we think, is an interesting programme of lectures. Finalisation of the programme has been delayed as one of the lecturers had to withdraw, but the programme should be available early in October. The lecturers are Dr Ruth Waite (nee Spinks), Dr Michael Keith-Lucas, Robin Dartington, Margaret Thomas NDB and Richard Ball, RBI. The cost for the Lecture Day for non-SBKA members is £12 and this includes a ploughman's lunch with dessert and refreshments during the day. The venue is the St. Ivel Lecture Hall at the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet. If any of your members would like to attend, tickets will be available from the SBKA Education Officer, Mrs Caroline Butter, The Old Manse, Draycott, Cheddar BS27 3SF from 8 January 2003. Prior to that date tickets will only be available to our SBKA members. From 8 January 2003 tickets will be available on a "first come, first served" basis as we are limited to 100 seated in the lecture hall. If you require any more information, please do let me know. Mrs Sharon Blake e-mail: m-s.blake@overstratton.fsnet.co.uk
PROGRAMME updated 3/12/02
9am - Coffee
9.30am - Opening by The President
9.35am - Have All Your Colonies Survived the Winter? - Margaret Thomas NDB
10.40am - On the Honey Trail - Dr Michael Keith-Lucas
11.45am - Coffee
12 noon - Bugs, Bees and Disease: Research in to Bee Diseases at the NBU - Dr Ruth Waite
1.05pm - 1st Lunch followed by Pyrethroid Resistance and EFB: Implications for Bee Husbandry - Richard Ball at 1.50pm
1.05pm - Pyrethroid Resistance and EFB: Implications for Bee Husbandry - Richard Ball followed by 2nd Lunch at 1.50pm
2.35pm - How Satisfied Are You With Your Beekeeping? - Robin Dartington
3.40pm - Tea
3.55pm - Your First Visit to the Bees - Margaret Thomas NDB
5.pm - Close

1st March 2003 - Bucks County Beekeepers Association ANNUAL SEMINAR To be held on March 1st 2003 at Wendover Memorial Hall from 10am to 4.0pm. Speakers:- Glynn Davies - Chairman BBKA 'The bees knees' Celia Davis -Gardening for Bees Andy Johnston -"Never trust an expert" (thoughts on Queen rearing) Cost:- £10 for BBKA members, £11 for non-members Ploughman's lunch included For details contact S. Chamberlin, 61 Wordsworth Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP11 2UR.Tel. 01494 522 082. E-mail: Sylvia Chamberlin

Tuesday 11 March 2003 at 7 pm at Roots & Shoots, Walnut Tree Walk, Kennington Road, Lambeth SE11. Norman Carreck, Bee Researcher at Rothamsted Research, will speak on "Current Bee Research at Rothamsted". This date is during National Science Week, in which David Perkins, Outreach Worker at the Wildlife Garden, is taking a broader part, so this talk on scientific research on bees forms a fitting contribution, and will be extremely interesting to all bee-keepers. All LBKA members and members of neighbouring BKAs are most welcome.
Refreshments will be served. Julian Lush JulianLush@amserve.com

22nd March 2003 - Cambridgeshire Beekeepers' Association One Day Meeting. Speakers: Professor Martin Wolfe "Some concerns about the use of GM"; Dr. Mark Whittaker "Biological control and natural pollination in the UK horticulture industry''; John Potter ''Honeybees under glass"; John Wilkins "Sniffer bees - What are they? Exploring the potential of insect olfaction". Ticket price of £11 includes lunch and lunch-time drinks. Full programme (with map) and tickets available early in 2003 from Dr. D. J. Abson, 6 Ascham Lane, Whittlesford, Cambridge, CB2 4NT (01223 834620) SAE appreciated. E-Mail David J. Abson

March 28 - April 2nd 2003 - Bee Products and Apitherapy Congress and Course
Preliminary Program of the Second German Bee Products and Apitherapy Congress and Course with International Participation, Holiday Inn Hotel, Passau, Germany. http://www.apitherapy.com or http://www.apitherapie.de

March 29, 2003 (Saturday) - The Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association is proud to announce the 2003 Midwest Beekeeping Symposium! 8:30 am – 3:30 pm McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, Illinois. The Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association and McHenry County College present the 2003 Midwest Beekeeping Symposium. The 2003 Symposium will combine both general sessions and numerous small group sessions. The diverse and jam-packed agenda will range from beginner topics to advanced such as, integrated pest management strategies, mead making, research updates, honey competition strategies and many more. Our 2003 featured speaker will be Dr. Dewey Caron, Professor of Entomology, University of Delaware. His topic for the keynote address will be “Integrated Pest Management - The Best Strategy for Mite and Pest Control Within the Hive”. Dr. Caron, author of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Africanized Honey Bees in the Americas, and co-author of Observation Hives, is one of the country’s most popular speakers on Beekeeping. His research interests are insect pollination, pest/predators of honeybees and issues in conservation of Bees and natural resources. To receive a brochure with more information, including registration information, e-mail your name, address and phone number to mwalsh@mchenry.edu or call 815.455.8697. Additionally, Symposium information can be found on the Illinois State Beekeepers Association website at www.isba.ws The Symposium registration fee of $30.00 covers all presentations and a Honey themed lunch. Ken Haller President, Northern Illinois Beekeepers Association, Northern Region Director, Illinois State Beekeepers Association.

Friday 4th - Saturday 5th April 2003 - ULSTER BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 59TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, GREENMOUNT COLLEGE, ANTRIM.
Friday, 4th April:
7.30 PM Opening ceremony
7.45 PM "Beekeepers' back, Margaret Thomas (guest lecturer).
8.30 PM "An evening with Drew Coid"
Saturday, 5th April:
9.00 AM Registration, coffee etc.
9.30 AM Welcome from Ethel Irvine, president UBKA.
Opening announcements.
9.45 AM "Varroa, its detection and spread in Ireland" Paul Moore (DARD)
10.15 AM "Living with Varroa" Margaret Thomas.
11.30 AM "Apimondia 2005" Philip McCabe, (President, FIBKA)
12.00 "New Products" Paul Smith (Thornes)
12.15.PM "Update on New Disease Control Methods" Jeremy Owen (Vita Europe)
12.30 PM LUNCH.
2.00 PM "Making a Varroa floor" Tom Canning.
2.30 PM "Spring Management" Margaret Thomas.
3.15 PM Presentation of Certificates and Awards.
3.45 PM COFFEE BREAK.
4.15 PM AGM, UBKA.

Exhibitors: E.H. Thorne (Beehives), Northern Bee Books, An Beachaire, DARD, Vita Europe Ltd., FIBKA Examination Board.
Admission, including coffee/tea for entire Conference £15 per person, £25 per family. Friday only, £10 per person, £15 per family.
For On-site accommodation contact Jim Fletcher, 028 9187 2163. For other accommodation contact Walter McNeill 028 9446 4648.

12th April 2003 (Saturday) - The Yorkshire Beekeepers Association Conference. "Something Old and Something New in the Practice of Beekeeping", In conjunction with Bishop Burton College, Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire. Guest Lecturers Glyn Davis - Chairman - British Beekeepers' Association Bob Ogden - Devon Beekeepers' Association Ian Molyneux - Regional Bees Inspector - Northern Region. Conference organisers are Dudley Gue and Ivor Flatman. http://www.bbka.org.uk/bbkafiles/yorkshire-bka-12april2003.pdf [42KB PDF]

12th April 2003 (Saturday) - The West Sussex beekeepers Association 'Practical Beekeeping' Convention at Brinsbury College (on A29 between Pulborough and Billingshurst) from 9.30am Speakers include: John Furzey (over 50 years of Commercial Beekeeping) Norman Hughes (former BBKA Chairman) Richard Ball (Southwestern Regional Bee Inspector who discovered resistant mites) Trade stands. Lunch available in the College Restaurant. A superb day of Beekeeping. Tickest £6 in advance or £8 on the day from Andrew Shelley, Oakfield, Cox Green, Rudgewick, Horsham RH12 3DD (sae appreciated) Further details, if required, on 01903 815655 or email john_bateman_hunt@hotmail.com Email John Bateman

26th April 2003 (Saturday) The BBKA Spring Convention. Trade Exhibitors and Educational stands galore (about 50 - 60 in three large halls). Lectures and Demonstrations in abundance. Download the full programme in PDF format (1.1MB) from: http://www.beedata.com/files/bbka-spring-conv-programme2003.pdf

3rd May (Saturday) - The Meon Valley Beekeepers Association. 24th Annual Auction sale of Beekeeping equipment. Stocks of bees and Beekeeping books and Plants on Saturday, May 3rd 2003 At 1.00 pm. prompt at The Village Hall, Greatham, Nr Liss. (Off A3). Viewing from 11.30 a.m. on the day of the sale only. It is expected that the usual large quantity of equipment and stocks of bees will be on sale. Items for the inclusion in the sale are now welcome. The first 300 lots accepted. Deliveries of lots for sale to be made to the hall on the morning of the sale only between 8.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. Catalogues, printed 11th April, will be available at the sale ground or can be ordered by sending 40p and an A4 S.A.E. Commission on sales - 10% plus 50 pence per lot entered. Information and Catalogues from Francis Farnsworth, 2 Malcolm Road, Chandlers Ford, S053 5BG Tel/Fax 023 8027 0622. E-mail mintybees@hotmail.com

10th May 2003 - West Sussex Beekeepers' Association Annual Bee Market and Auction at Brinsbury College, Pulborough. Details of items for inclusion are welcome now. Information and entry forms from David Staples, 14, Northfield Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 1QW (sae please) Tel 01903 539205. Viewing from 11am. Auction at 1pm. All bees to have disease free inspection certificate. No used or drawn comb. John Bateman-Hunt E-mail: john_bateman_hunt@hotmail.com

7–8 June 2003 - Sutton Coldfield (Warwickshire) Beekeepers Biennial Meeting. Speakers Adam Hart, David Charles, Bob Ogden, David Kelly and Pam Gregory. Demonstration of Dartington Long Hive. Saturday – Lecture, Demonstration and evening meal. Sunday Demonstration and Lectures with lunch available. Information from Ruby Smith on 0121 354 7548 or e-mail routh.family@lineone.net

24-29 August 2003 - 8th International Congress of Apimondia. Ljubljiana, Slovenia. Slovenia is to host the 38th Apimondia beekeeping Congress. The congress will be held in the City of Ljubljiana and the congress invites the submission of papers. Details of subjects and more information can be found on : www.apimondia2003.com

22-25 February 2004 - Apimondia Symposium on Tropical Beekeeping: Research and Development for Pollination and Conservation. Heredia Costa Rica More detail is available from: Isanchez@una.ac.cr

23-27 February 2004 - 7th Asian Apicultural Association Conference Los Banos College, Lagunas, Philippines. More information from: cleofas.cervancia@up.edu.ph

6-10 September 2004 - 8th IBRA Conference on tropical Bees: management and diversity. Ribeiro Preto, Brazil.

THE BEE PRESS
BEECRAFT
The latest issue of Bee Craft offers a wealth of information, advice and items of interest for all beekeepers in its monthly columns. The following is its contents list:

Bee World. (Vol 83 (4) 2002) IBRA www.ibra.org.uk
Guest Editorial. Richard Cooter. Risks to UK beekeeping from the parasitic mite. Tropilaelaps clareae and the small hive beetle Aethina tumida. Mike Brown, Helen Thompson and Medwin Bew. Socio economic factors in traditional rafter beekeeping with Apis dorsata in Vietnam. Nguyen Quang Tan and Dang Thanh Ha. Estimating benefits from beekeeping in the montane forests of north-western Cameroon. Philip Forboseh. PLUS: IBRA News, World News. A report on the Apimondia symposium:preventing residues in honey. Conference calendar. Beekeeping around the world. Traditional stone apiaries in Malta. Annual Index Bee World 2002.

ARTICLES
Some thoughts about propolis in the hive
Written by John Yates

Propolis in the hive is generally regarded as a nuisance. Hive and frame design should be aimed at minimising it. Unfortunately this is not so and most beekeepers have to put up with badly designed equipment; they pay good money for rubbish and in the past I too have been caught out. I propose this month discussing briefly two items which every beekeeper is familiar with, that is, the propolis between the ends of the top bars and the hive wall and between queen excluders and the top of the top bars.

First the top bar ends. Colony manipulation can be made a lot easier if the ends of the frames are minimised in area. This is readily achieved by cutting off 5/16 inch from each end and replacing the missing timber with a small screw projecting the same distance. A 3/4 inch round or pan head does the job admirably preferably either stainless steel or brass. This simple and inexpensive modification is shown in all three photographs A, B and C. The minimised area is now only the head of the screw. All our frames have this simple modification and together with using a similar screw for frame spacing (shown upper most in photograph C) it has very nearly made the hive tool redundant for removing frames in the brood chamber during a colony manipulation.

Queen excluders must be the worst example of non-compliance with the design criterion to minimise the propolising of hive parts. Consider first the slotted types of queen excluders, originally made in zinc sheet with either long or short slots specifically designed to lay across the top surface of the brood chamber top bars. Such an arrangement invites propolisation along every top bar in the brood chamber with the result that the queen excluder has to be peeled off breaking every joint until it becomes free. 'Touchy' bees object to this manipulation. The real problem comes when it has to be replaced; the top bars have to be scraped clean, with more objections from the bees, and the queen excluder itself has to be cleaned. Cleaning the queen excluder is not easy with a hive tool and, if it is of the long slot variety, there is high risk of causing damage and ruining its excluding capabilities. The only way these slotted queen excluders can be cleaned in the apiary is by carefully scraping them with a hive tool on the top of a flat hive roof. There are mild steel slotted types available which are more robust and there are some made of plastic. All fail the design criterion for minimising propolisation and should be ignored and abandoned. There is no way that they could be adapted to be even partially successful. They are cheap but it is a false economy, in my opinion, to purchase them.

The next type (wire) includes the Herzog and Waldron variety; both are similar in construction with a robust metal wire grid enclosed in a wooden frame. A queen excluder for a National hive will be discussed but the principle is the same for all hives. The wooden frame is made from timber finished to 3/8 inch thick or, more common these days, timber finished to 9mm. The wire grid should be flush with one side of the wooden frame with a bee space on the other side. Sometimes there is and sometimes there isn't, depending who made the frame. Don't get caught when you buy a new one.
The wooden framing of queen excluders vary in width, again depending on who made them, and one that was measured from a stack of 25 in my apiary shed had 2 sides 1¼ inches wide and the other 2 sides 11/8 inches wide with a rabbet on one side to take the wire grid. The rabbet was made too deep leaving a gap of approximately c inch at each side which gets filled with propolis (shown in photograph A). The frame is jointed at the corners but it is unglued and stapled together cheapjack fashion; eventually the staples rust and one such example is shown clearly in photographs A and not so clearly in photograph B.

The wooden frame should be of the same profile as the cross section of the hive it is to fit; in the case of a National, 2 sides should be ½ inch wide and the other 2 sides ¾ inch wide. Study of the photographs A and B will make it abundantly clear that the woodwork of the queen excluder will be in contact with the ends of the upper surfaces of all the top bars. Also, the top bar directly adjacent to the hive wall (photograph A) is in contact with the queen excluder frame throughout its whole length. These two design faults create a most unsatisfactory situation and again make colony manipulation more difficult.

While the arrangement is much better than the slotted types it still fails the propolis design criterion. Prising the wooden frame from the top bars at every manipulation soon weakens the joints and most of mine have been remade and glued.

So what is the solution? In my opinion it would not be possible to make a wire type excluder with a wooden frame with sides of ½ inch and ¾ inch width, it would be insufficiently robust always assuming that the grid is large enough to fill a frame with larger inside dimensions.

I believe that the frame should be made of mild steel to the correct dimensions of the hive it is to fit with the grid welded into it and the whole zinc plated after fabrication. Different hives have different wall thickness and it would be necessary to specify the hive it is to be used on; this should not present a problem and a common specification could be written which would embrace all types of hive.

Photograph B shows the end of a National brood chamber containing 11 frames and a dummy board. The dummy board should also have a screw at each end; the one shown hasn't and its end is clagged up with Propolis.

There is also a small auditorium in which there is a video concerning honey bees and beekeeping permanently showing. (Commentary only in French, unfortunately!) There is also an indoor hive, whose exit to the open air is via a glass sided passage.

One of the most impressive features is a cellar containing a large quantity of barrels of mead and mead making equipment. Mr. Therry describes mead as "La boisson des Gaulois" - the drink of the Gauls.

Behind the premises is a bee garden with several hives, but evidently most of his colonies must be kept elsewhere.

When we visited Bouin Plumoison last September we found a party of French schoolchildren there, being shown how honey was extracted. Surprisingly, some of them had apparently never tasted honey, and a few turned up there noses in disgust when offered pieces of comb - despite being assured by Robin that it was 'delicieux'! When the children were taken into the garden there was no suggestion of veils being provided, and Mr. Therry even encouraged them to touch bees. In this country the fear of a claim for damages if one of the children was stung would probably discourage anybody from doing that.

Also present was a young lady reporter from a local radio station. Realising that Robin was a beekeeper from England, she recorded an interview with him. We didn't discover whether it was ever broadcast!

Therry Apiculture is well worth a visit by any beekeeper who finds himself in the Pas de Calais. It is advertised as open Mondays to Fridays from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m., on Saturdays 'toute la journée' (all day - whatever that may mean), and on Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. except in January. It advertises guided visits for parties of more than 20. The address is 923 rue Nationale, but it is easily found as Bouin Plumoison is only a small village.

I had been keeping bees for about fifteen years and had recently introduced my friend George to the joys of beekeeping. In his first flush of enthusiasm, and being a person never to do anything by halves, he was going all over the place buying hives from whatever source he could find. One of the vendors turned out to be the president of the local Branch of Beekeepers, which was a big eye opener for me, as I hadn't realised there was such a thing as 'A Local Branch'.

I mentioned having kept bees for fifteen years. Fifteen years of joy and agony.
Joy at the wonders of this remarkable hobby and agony from the inevitable stings that caused me to break out in a cold sweat at the mere thought of opening up a hive. However the joy always won and I worried about the agony afterwards.

Needless to say I hurried along to the next meeting of this newly discovered branch and met this wonderful band of experts, one of whom turned out to be a gentleman by the name of Manny Hedges. Now in those days sugar was rationed and some how or other my name found it's way onto a list. I would get home from work in the evening and my mother would announce, "Oh, I've got three for you this evening" or something similar. She was of course referring to swarms. Somehow or other the local Police had got my name off the list.

The conversation with Manny Hedges inevitably turned to swarms and the funny places one would find them. Having described one of these situations I asked, "What would you do if you were called to such a situation Mr Hedges?" "Oh that's easy, what yer do is rolls up yer sleeves, put's yer 'ands in and claims 'em". My eyes popped out. "Oh".

Well, a week went by and such a difficult situation did arise. There was the swarm on a rickety old fence with an overhanging privet hedge and three-inch holes spaced along the fence at one-foot intervals as part of the decoration.

The swarm had taken possession of one of the holes. Shaking the fence with the risk of the swarm dropping down each side at best and the fence collapsing at worst or smoking them up into the hedge didn't seem to be an option. 'Putting my hands in and claiming them' seemed to be the solution.

The onlookers were congregated at a safe distance across the road. Good I thought at least they won't see my sweat and I can conceal any signs of being stung, so in I went. One or two gentle puffs of smoke then opening both hands I judged where the hole was and gently pressed my fingers into the swarm. Lots of prickles as the bees ran all over my hands, but this is wonderful! No stings - yet. Gently closing my hands together until my fingertips were touching, then one firm shake and lo and behold they were running into the box I had prepared for them.

Three weeks passed and it was time for the next beekeepers meeting. I proudly announced to Mr Hedges "it worked Mr Hedges". He looked up at me "what was that son? He asked. "Well putting your hands in and claiming them". Horror spread over his face "my god you didn't" he said "I was joshing you"!

Those few moments were to change my life of beekeeping. Never again have I broken out in a cold sweat. No longer fearing bees I seldom get stung and if I do it hurts the bee more than it does me such is the immunity I have developed from all those stings in those far off days.

George carried on beekeeping with about a dozen hives on a site he used to go to for the weekends. When he decided to leave for Australia he left his hives in my friend Arthur's capable hands. One day Arthur told me that George used to spend most of his time on Sundays picking out the maggots that his wife had spotted in the cells. Such is beekeeping!

A debate on the radio last week centred on the issue of whether genes responsible for antisocial behaviour can be identified, and if they can be identified, does that mean the person with those genes can be held responsible, for (let us take a random example) say, burgling an office and comprehensively smashing it up after taking all the computer equipment? (Not such a random example, actually, because I had a call from the police just half an hour ago, who found my phone number in the wreckage of my company's head office? Anyway, that's one big headache for us to deal with.) Maybe the perpetrators are victims of their genes, and it's not their fault. In my youth I had a Victorian book on phrenology, which claimed that people's characters can be deduced from the shape of their heads, such as the dissipated type, the criminal type, the noble type, the heroic type, blah blah blah. The finest woodcut of all, and the most fearsome, was that of 'Emerson, An Idiot' whose visage comprised deepset eyes below eyebrows like the Himalayas, almost no cranium and a jaw like Desperate Dan's. Emerson's terrifying scowl has stuck in my memory all these years, and now I picture him ransacking our office.

Hang on, I'm getting carried away here. I didn't mean to write about phrenology, but phenology this month. In my last ramblings ('le mot juste,' grumble our continental readers) I was talking about my fields of wild flowers, and how the plants which germinated in October were poking up a few millimetres from the soil. It's been wet for sure, but not yet cold, and still these plants are putting on growth - in December! It seems to me the winters have been getting milder, in fact downright cissie recently, but my memory is hopeless. So that's where I have to listen to real experts.

At the weekend it was a pleasure to attend a lecture by Sir Ghillean Prance (who is as far removed from Emerson as you could imagine). Sir Ghillean was the Director of Kew Gardens before taking up his present position as Scientific Director at the Eden Project. He talked about a whole range of environmental issues, including climate change, saying that global warming is indisputable. How's this for a statistic? The hottest eight years ever recorded in the UK all occurred in the past decade! (So my little plants stand a fighting chance of getting through winter.) And he went on to discuss phenology, which is the study of the flowering times of plants. This is a field that I believe is largely dominated by passionate amateurs who report from all over the UK. The astonishing figure is that over a few decades, plants in the UK are flowering on average seven days earlier. Let me stress that he is talking about average - many plants are flowering up to 30 days earlier. This doesn't just mean that the weather is a little more pleasant for us, but there are global implications. For instance, the Maldives - islands which reach only a few feet above the Indian Ocean - may need to be renamed Atlantis as they disappear below the Indian Ocean.

Nevertheless, the lecture, which was very wide-ranging, finished with an attempt to be optimistic. I can pluck all sorts of examples and quotes from my notes, but I understand the text (and hopefully illustrations) will be available on-line. I shall attempt to find the web-site in case anyone is interested.

LETTERS
Dear Editor,
Reply to John Yates on “Bad tempered bees in the United Kingdom” In the article “Bad tempered bees in the United Kingdom” Mr. Yates states “Apis mellifera intermissa or the Tellian bee from NW Africa is considered to be a major race from which the bees in western Europe developed such as the Iberian bee, the French blacks, the old English bee, etc. All these bees have the aggressive instinct of the Tellian bee and these aggressive genes are to be found throughout the UK.”

This is a notion that is challenged by recent research. At the University of Copenhagen Dr. Bo Vest Pedersen studied the mitochondrial DNA of numerous samples of honeybee and found that there are three major groupings of Apis mellifera. In the distant past Apis mellifera separated from Apis cerana and became established as a distinct species. It is inferred from the DNA studies that some of these bees later migrated sometime between a half and one million years ago to evolve into the Apis mellifera mellifera group. At a later stage further divisions produced the other two groups, one migration evolving into the subspecies of south and east Europe, i.e. the Italian, Carniolan, Greek, Caucasian bees etc, with the other group forming the subspecies of Africa including the Tellian bee.

Ruttner (1988a) describes how, during the last Ice Age A. m. mellifera was confined to the valleys of southern France, until the ice began to melt about ten thousand years ago when the bees were able to extend northwards (in association with flora that provided food and deciduous trees that provided nesting sites) to colonise most of Europe north of the Pyrenees and the Alps including Britain and Ireland, southern Norway and across Russia as far as the Urals.

Dr. Pedersen also states that it has been shown that the Iberian subspecies, A. m. iberica is the result of an introgressive hybridisation of local European bees by an African subspecies.

Mr. Yates asks why the change to aggressive bees in this country has taken place over the past 70 years. From the above mentioned studies we can assume that the “aggressive genes “ to which Mr. Yates refers are not inherited from the Tellian bee. The primary cause of aggressive behaviour in our honeybees is the cross breeding of different subspecies resulting from the continued importation during those 70 years of foreign bees into this country. Professor Friedrich Ruttner wrote “Unfortunately, most racial crosses incline towards increased stinginess, even when outstandingly gentle races are used for crossing. If anyone brings bees of a foreign race to his apiary he will hybridise the entire neighbourhood”.

The writer of these notes has kept bees for sixty of the seventy years mentioned by Mr. Yates. The majority of the aggressive bees I have encountered during that time have been inter-racial hybrids. Black bees of mixed ancestry give a bad reputation to the native bee that is unwarranted, just as yellow bees of mixed ancestry give the Italian bee a bad reputation. I now have productive and gentle black native bees that are handled without gloves or the use of smoke. This has been achieved by choosing a very good local strain and ruthlessly culling any queens that mate with imported or hybrid drones.

Unfortunately, too many beekeepers in this country, being unaware of the virtues or existence of the native bee, look for the quick and easy “fix” by buying foreign queens, thereby perpetuating the problem of aggressive behaviour.

Apart from the efforts of individual members, there are now 22 groups spread throughout the country working in BIBBA to produce good tempered, productive native bees only to be frustrated at times when other beekeepers bring imported or hybrid drones within flying distance of their apiaries.

Surely the time has come for beekeepers in this country to take the long term view and work together and with nature to conserve and improve the best of the native bees still surviving.

References:
Pedersen, B. V. 1996. On the phylogenetic position of the Danish strain of the black honeybee (the Laeso bee), Apis mellifera mellifera L., inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Entomologica Scandinavica 27; 241 – 250.

Ruttner F. 1988 (English translation) Breeding Techniques and Selection for Breeding of the Honeybee. BIBBA.

Ruttner F. 1988a. Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees. Springer-Verlag. John E Dews – 8th January 2003

Reply to John Dews
The purpose of my article, which appears to have been overlooked by Mr Dews, was to enquire whether there was a better way to determine the aggressive character of a stock of bees for examination purposes; ie. better than the one that I postulated whereby the greater the distance the followers follow, the greater the aggressiveness.
It was Bro. Adam, the greatest bee breeder the world has known, who classed the Tellian bee (Intermissa) as a major race from which all those NW European bees evolved. The other major race in N.Africa, Fasciata, is the forerunner of the Italian and other docile bees of SE Europe. Bro. Adam was the only person with any real experience of the English brown or black bee, who has committed his findings to paper. He is on record as saying that it had some good qualities but it also had some bad ones; bad temper was its major failing together with its susceptibility to disease.
I don't think that it is proven that the primary cause of bad temper is due to introgressive hybridisation. Bad temper is exhibited, to a greater or lesser degree, by all the NW European bees. Conversely to what Mr. Dews states, it is also possible to get very docile bees from a cross between two very aggressive strains; this was also shown by Bro. Adam.
I do agree with him partially on one point that it is very easy to breed a good tempered bee simply by culling the bad ones, not from the native bee per se but from the 'riff raff' which are now native. Few beekeepers manage to do this and it is to be noted that it is unnecessary to seek out a particular strain.
BIBBA's aims to produce good tempered bees on a national scale is admirable but, unfortunately it is, in my opinion, a pipe dream without Governmental assistance with funding and compulsory registration of all beekeepers; something which is unlikely to happen. J.D

Dear Editor,
Thanks for an informative and varied issue. Although you seem to qualify your poll questions below:

"If GMO research was stopped completely, do you think:
A. We would be abandoning a young science that if perfected may bring enormous benefits to mankind and the planet OR
B. We would be saving mankind and the planet from potential or actual disaster
C. You don't know enough about the subject.

It is extremely difficult to formulate a question without drawing some criticism about its bias or accusations of 'leading'. I've thought a lot about this and believe that the question above is as fair as possible. But to make this small survey of any use, we do need your participation, so do have ago from the links below. Vote once only please. The GMO Poll Expires: Dec 23, 2002 (Tue)."

I would like to complain at being forced to vote "A" to participate. My GM knowledge is fairly reasonable, so I can't vote "C". "B" is an extreme viewpoint when applied to stopping research completely, but if applied to halting farm scale field trials on modified crops it would be quite reasonable, and my vote at present. I feel that the poll may result in some people not voting, or like myself, being forced to cast what appears to be a supporting vote for the status quo on GM trials.

I feel that you have confused 'research' with 'field trials'. Only idiots would stop research...or trial theories that were not fully researched. Wouldn't they? The problem with GM (and in fact with most industrialisation and new technology) is not the product...it is the motivation. If this technology is going to feed the masses of the world I'd feel a lot more comfortable if there was more evidence of helping hands from the West, and a little less of the clenched fist! The belief that GM is simply a means to concentrate power in the hands of wealthy seed barons for personal (read stockholders/read YOUR INSURANCE/PENSION) gain cannot be ignored. This is a difficult subject, with many levels. I think your poll is a brave and excellent idea...but feel it may mislead. My reasoned vote certainly does not reflect my opinion...which is nothing new! John Sewell

Dear David,
Greetings from a cold Greece - a icy wind is coming from the snow-covered mountain tops and we are suffering night-time temperatures of just 6C. Brrr.

There are a couple of things in the latest issue of Apis UK I would like to comment on.

Firstly, the GM technology. I welcome the idea of the reader survey and although you gave a lot of thought to the questions, I am not sure that they were the right ones. I say this because the whole issue of technology is ultimately about responsibility and if we could rely on scientists and 'big business' to take these responsibilities seriously - a difficult conflict when multi-dollar companies are involved and their business essentially is about making money and certainly not philanthropy, then there might be more confidence in the industry. I think many people would agree that there is a place for the technology - particularly in a 'closed' environment, where the likelihood of 'escape' and 'contamination' are not likely to be a problem. That we cannot trust some scientists/companies is clearly evident by the cloning programme which is currently underway, and I am sure that there are enough egoists, with money, who would like to have clones of themselves, a dangerous and unethical scenario. What I am really saying is that whilst the science can be good, it is the use to which it put that is the determining factor about its usefulness or dangerousness to mankind, cf the nuclear industry. GM technology covers so many things, many none of us are aware of
- perhaps it would have been better in a beekeeping magazine to ask whether or not the readers thought that the GM planting of crops would, or not, have an adverse affect on beekeeping. I do not like the idea of the running tally of votes so that everyone can see which way the voting is going - the results could easily be manipulated one way or another. A closed ballot boz would have been much better.

Secondly, referring to 'holy bees'. There still exists amongst certain devout Greek Orthodox people in this area the belief that if you put an icon in a beehive, then the bees will never cover the Madonna's (or any saint's) face with wax. In the manner of the tabloids (the sort that travel many miles to take a photograph of a black patch on a Friesian cow which resembles some personality's face) this was put to the test and televised. I am told the icon was clear of any wax on the face. Mmm. I think this calls for some research. Best wishes and keep up the good work. John Phipps

Dear David,
I was interested in the article by John Yates in the December issue of Apis UK, and agree fully with his view of most modern bees. I've always understood that aggression or defensiveness was a different characteristic to following. Aggression could be measured by the means of a cloth-covered ball dangled over the open hive and then counting the number of stings in a given time.
On the question of the cost of Queens, the average house price in many parts of the country for a semi-detached house is probably closer to £50,000 and that would make the cost of a queen to be about £5. I would be interested to know where one could buy a quality Queen for £5, or even for £10. Regards, John Burgess, Editor Gwenynwyr Cymru/The Welsh Beekeeper.

Reply to John Burgess
Yes, John Burgess is right, a small leather covered ball dangling in front of a colony was (is?) used for measuring aggressiveness in order to determine which colonies may be best used to collect bee venom. However, the purpose of my measurement is to define a simple way to determine which colonies should be used for the BBKA Husbandry Examination. I have observed that following may be equated with aggressiveness. It is to be noted that the most aggressive bee in the world, the Africanised Honey Bee (AHB), follows regularly to 1 km from its hive.

The cost of a semi in London is of the order that I stated; elsewhere may be different. Queens have been advertised in Devon for around the £10 mark but what are advertised as quality queens is another matter. Breeding your own from the local 'riff raff' is just as good. J.D

Dear Editor,
Having just received the reminder I have looked at the so-called readers' survey and reluctantly filled it in. This does us all a disservice as the question is loaded and the results will be meaningless. As a scientist, but also a keen environmentalist, I try to keep an open mind and ignore the hype around this topic. There are dangers and I believe that more care is needed before any crops are introduced, especially into Europe, but the public have become suspicious of anything called 'genetic modification' and that is unfortunate and unnecessary. Dairy starters for example have been in common use for may years and are both valuable and harmless. Pamela A Hunter. Freelance Medical Writer and Microbiological Consultant

Dear Editor,
MELLIFERA is the first scientific beekeeping journal in Turkey. Languages (Turkish and English). It is that the journal has been found eligible for screening by the ULAKBIM National Indices and "APICULTURAL ABSTRACTS" of Ulrich's International Periodicals, BIOSIS and EBSCO. Correspondence address, Subscription form, Instruction to authors and other detailed information can you find at, www.tkv-dft.org/publications/index.htm Or write to mellifera@ktg.com.tr With my best regards, Editor of Mellifera Assoc. Prof. Kadriye Sorkun

HISTORICAL NOTE
WONDERFUL WAX
In a recent issue I dealt with the virtues and properties of Mead. Now it is the turn of wax. The initial description is perfectly said.
(From: England's Interest, 4th edition. Sir John More 1707).
"Wax hath no fixed elementary quality, but is a mean between hot and cold, and between dry and moist. It mollifies the sinews; it ripeneth and resolveth ulcers; the quantity of a pea of wax being swallowed down by nurses, disolveth the milk curdled in their breasts; and ten round pieces of wax, of the bigness of the grains of millet or hempseed, will not suffer the milk to curdle in the stomach. Moreover it maketh the most excellent light for clearness, and sweetness, and neatness, to be preferred before all others, and is such as is used in the palaces of kings and princes."
"Natural wax is altered by distillation into an oyl of marvellous vertue: it is rather a celestial or divine medicine, than humane; because in wounds it worketh miracles, and is therefore opposed by the surgeons, tho they use it themselves; for it healeth a wound, be it never so wide and big, being before stitch'd up, in 10 or 12 days at the most; but it healeth those that are small in 3 or 4 days only by anointing the wound therewith, and applying a cloth wet in the same. It stayeth the shedding of the hair on the head or face, by anointing therewith.
For inward diseases this oyl worketh miracles. If you give 1 dram at a time in white wine, it will provoke urine, help stitches and pains in the loins, the cold gout and all other grief's coming of cold".
(All this is most appropriate for the winter months, so next month 'how to make this oyl'. You will need, wax, plenty of sweet wine, some red brick powder, sand and some finely sifted ashes. Ed).

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