Essex Beekeepers Association AGM
Date: Saturday 11 March 2023, at 2pm
Venue: Jubilee Hall, New Hall School, The Avenue, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HS
Map: For directions please click here
The meeting will follow the normal format: EBKA business, followed by refreshments, and a lecture from a guest speaker.
Guest Speaker: Wally Shaw (Beekeeper for 35 years, author and lecturer) The Role of Swarm Control in Beekeeping
Agenda: Planned agenda can be found here and for reference 2022 minutes here
Additional documents:
Guest Speaker: Further detail on Wally Shaw
Wally Shaw, with his wife Jenny, has managed bees since 1987. They currently have about 40 colonies in 4 apiaries in Anglesey, and over the last 12 years have been making 25-40 five-frame nucs per annum to provide new beekeepers with a starter colony of local adapted bees. They are both retired research ecologists and their driving force has been an interest in the bees themselves. Their bees are managed with the aim of producing a good crop of honey which they bottle themselves and sell locally, and the income more than defrays the cost of beekeeping activities.
Wally Shaw has written a number of practical beekeeping booklets on behalf of WBKA, two of which are in relation to swarming. The five booklets are available to read or download (free of charge) on the WBKA website and cover other subjects such as comb management, honey harvest and feeding bees.
The talk: The Role of Swarm Control in Beekeeping
Wally’s talk recognises that beekeeping is a ‘broad-church’: meaning that people engage in the craft for all sort of reasons and with a wide range of aims and aspirations, which quite often change with time. Wally and Jenny practice fairly intensive swarm control. Although swarm control interferes to some extent with a colony’s evolved behaviour, it is possible to reduce this to a minimum by what they call ‘apicentric’ management. The talk does not deal with the nitty-gritty of swarm control but more with the underlying principles.
Essex Beekeepers' Association 