Fermanagh Beekeepers' Association reflects on how June went

Well, the glorious weather in June meant that there was no June gap and the honeybees foraged throughout, writes Ethel Irvine from Fermanagh Beekeepers' Association below, looking back at last month.

Foraging throughout June was reminiscent of when I started beekeeping in 1982 when Fermanagh did not experience a major break in forage as, although the blossom on the trees was over, the hedgerows and meadows were full of small, insignificant (to humans) flowering plants such as the vetches, knapweed, ragged robin and chickweed.

The difference this year was that many plants have flowered early, providing the bees with a continuous supply of nectar and pollen and enabling them to continue to rear large amounts of brood.

Beekeepers always know when a flow of nectar comes to an end as the bees will immediately return to their favourite water source and carry it back to their colonies.

During a nectar flow, the bees work hard to reduce the water content of the nectar, which, at this time of year is usually stored in the supers.

They do this by fanning their wings to move the air over these storage cells, evaporating the excess moisture so that the resulting honey will not ferment.

This moisture keeps the humidity levels in the hives at a level which ensures the healthy development of the brood.

While there is nectar coming in, the bees will use some of it for their own needs and water is not needed to reduce the sugar concentration in stored honey so that they can digest it.

It is one of the great pleasures of the beekeeper to go into the apiary on a warm, late summer evening, and to listen to the roar from the hive as hundreds of bees fan over the day’s nectar collection, and to smell the aroma.

With so much nectar available, bees stored the excess ripe honey, and many of our local beekeepers were taking off supers of honey in June – a rare occurrence in our area.

However, as a consequence of the combination of large brood nests in spring, their rapid expansion during the hot weather and the congestion in the hive as the nectar flowed in, swarming was difficult to control, and more swarms than usual were reported in the Association in the first half of June.

The prevalence of thunderstorms did not help as the bees were inclined to be tetchy.

We were also called to respond to appeals for help from the general public who had no wish to share their premises with large numbers of bees!

Incidentally, if a colony is opened and bees have begun to put nectar in cells normally occupied by larvae, it is usually a sign that there is no queen in the hive – the bees are not expecting eggs.

On the other hand, if those same cells look polished, the bees are expecting a queen to lay.

Active again

Members of the Association have been active again recently, interacting with and answering questions from the public on occasions such as the Lisnaskea Fair Day, and the Open Farm Day at the Enniskillen Campus of CAFRE.

Thomas McCaffery, who works at Mannok – a firm which has a keen environmental aspect and has a sustainability link with Mount Lourdes Grammar School – gave a talk to Year 10 students on the honeybee and its contribution to the world in which we live.

He was also able to show them something of the life of the honeybee in the observation hive, and the role of the queen as she went about her business of laying eggs.

Annual barbecue

The annual barbecue was held on the evening of the last Thursday of June at the Association apiary in the Enniskillen Campus of CAFRE, and was attended by members, family and friends.

The winners of the Shield for the Beginner of the Year were introduced by Chairman Stephen Hey, and the Shield was presented to Wendy Buchanan and Kelley Harris by Brian Dane, who tutors the Level 3, Proficiency in Beekeeping course.

The shield is awarded when a beginner has completed the Level 1 Introduction to Beekeeping course (with tutor Jackie Barry) and has had the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to both beekeeping and the Association.

This is the first year that there have been joint winners, and Wendy and Kelley have both taken on active roles in the running of the Association.

After the BBQ, Stephen thanked all those who had contributed to its success, especially Lorraine Wild and William Martin for their organisational and culinary skills.

In addition, he thanked all those who had attended events in Fermanagh to further the understanding of beekeeping in the county.

Our thanks also go to the management and staff of CAFRE, Enniskillen, for the consideration which they have shown towards our honeybees as they manage their grounds, and for the help which they give to beekeepers, should it be as regards access, equipment or any other matter which concerns us.

Available forage

As we came to the end of June, the weather changed to be more variable, and I am wondering about the forage which will be available throughout this month of July, and August.

Bramble is producing both nectar and pollen and it usually has a long-flowering period, hopefully carrying on into September.

Meadow sweet is to be seen along our roadsides and in the rough grazing. The rosebay willowherb is in full bloom, as is (dare I mention it?) Himalayan balsam.

These are flowers we expect to see more towards the end of July.

What can we expect from the plentiful if somewhat bedraggled short white clover which only produces nectar at temperatures in excess of around 18C?

Remember that the more luscious red clover has nectaries which can be reached by the long proboscis of the bumblebee only?

It is to be hoped that some of the less obvious July wildflowers will tide the bees over this month.

There will be no Association meeting this month of July but there will be tutoring sessions in the Apiary arranged for a few examination students, and the Lakeland queen rearing group will continue to meet at regular intervals – whatever the weather!

The group is very grateful to apiary manager, Emma Irwin, and her assistant, James, for the seemingly neverending supply of frames of foundation, brood boxes, supers and whatever else they need.