The last Wednesday of the month, at this time of year, is the winter meeting for Leeds beekeepers at the Newman Centre, Cross Gates. This week we had the delight of Jim Pearson. Jim is a Master Beekeeper and came to speak to us about what he believes to be the Myths, Legends and Lies surround beekeeping. The talk, and the following question and answer session were fantastic. It covered diverse topics such as apideas, extreme polyandry, deformed wing virus, Italian bees, black bees and virgin queens. It catered for new beekeepers and beekeepers of many years. A great talk by Jim indeed.
January is oxalic acid treatment time for honey bees in Yorkshire. This is David Haigh spraying the varroa treatment into one of our overwintering hives at Temple Newsam. We have several over wintering hives and each one will be treated. This hive is particularly strong for January. He also “hefted” the hives to make sure they have sufficient food to see them through to Spring 2017. They all had, I'm pleased to say!
