At the Annual General Meeting of Fermanagh Beekeepers’ Association, reports were presented from the Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman.

The Association is doing well, with a membership now of over 60 people. The Secretary, Jorgen Pedersen reported on the activities during 2014, which ranged from evenings with a demonstration of hand cream using wax to a much less entertaining, but none the less necessary, talk on diseases! Practical demonstrations in the apiary took place as well as the barbeque and the trip to visit other apiaries.

The Association uses whatever available money it has to benefit members and increase their knowledge and experience. The Chairman, Noel McAllister thanked all who had helped progress the Association during the year, with a special mention for the four members of the queen rearing group who had given up so much of their time during the summer months.

A number of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Association had been notified to members before the AGM, including stressing the importance of using bees proven to be suitable to local conditions, discouraging the import of bees from outside the island of Ireland to help to prevent the spread of exotic bee diseases and pests and to allow awarding honorary membership to any present or past member, who they consider has made an outstanding contribution to beekeeping in County Fermanagh. These amendments were passed unaminously.

Hugh Mannix acted as Chairman for the election of Officers. A number of Officers were re-elected including Noel McAllister as Chairman, Ronnie McIntyre as Vice Chairman and Jorgen Pedersen as Honorary Secretary. William Martin takes over from Lorna Parkinson as Honorary Treasurer with Lorna as Assistant Treasurer. Ronnie McIntyre will also act as Apiary Manager with Colin Janes again appointed as Assistant. Other members of Committee are; Avril Campbell (Honey Show secretary), Andrew Elliott (Education), Ethel Irvine (Education and Public Relations), Brian Richardson (Disease Officer) and Joanne McGuire.

In his remarks after the election of officers, the Chairman thanked Lorna Parkinson for her years of service as Treasurer. He also thanked retiring Apiary Manager and Assistant, Raymond Beatty and Joe Green for all the work they had done in the apiary over the last years.

The Chairman outlined plans for the Association during 2015 which include the expansion of the queen rearing group to give more members valuable experience which they could use in their own apiaries and the continuation of activities which would expand and develop the expertise of all members.

The AGM was followed by a very enjoyable dinner, the first to be held by FBKA for many years.

Ethel Irvine reports that month, beekeepers should continue to monitor food levels in their colonies and feed fondant if necessary.

“As the weather gets warmer (hopefully), fondant may be placed over the feed hole in the crown board as the colonies may move more freely to access it. Also, keep an eye open for any colony which may have died out during the winter. It should be closed up immediately it is discovered since it could be robbed of its stores and, if disease was the cause of death, it would spread very quickly to the whole apiary. Do make sure the colony is dead before acting, as not all colonies will have the same amount of activity and some may be slow to react to better weather.

“The honey made by bees in Fermanagh last summer crystallises very quickly. I have not been able to discover which plants were blooming freely and have nectar which is high in glucose and thus results in fast crystallisation. We have no canola (oil seed rape) in Fermanagh which would be the obvious suspect but it may be due to the abundance of dandelion in early summer. Good honey will always crystallise if kept long enough since honey is a supersaturated solution of sugars. Gentle heating will bring it back to liquid honey and this is worth doing since this year’s honey has a very pleasing flavour. Some people prefer crystallised honey since they can get more of it onto their wheaten bread or toast!

“The next meeting of Fermanagh Beekeepers will be held in the Railway Hotel, Enniskillen on Thursday evening next, February 26 at 8pm when the speaker will be Michael Maunsell from Offaly BKA. Michael is an excellent speaker and will speak on ‘Colony Evaluation and Record Keeping’. Many of us open up our colonies with no other purpose but to ensure that he queen is present and laying. Michael will explain that there is much more which we can learn from our routine examinations. Everyone will be very welcome.”