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Galtee Bee Breeding Group
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Galtee Bee Breeding Group
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INFLUX OF NEW BLOOD.
Probably the largest gathering of beekeepers ever to congregate in Ireland with the common purpose of improving their bees, assembled at the Band Room, Cahir, for the A.G.M. of the Galtee Bee Breeding Group, on Sunday, 1st. February, 1998. The attendance comprised twenty four beekeepers from ten Associations in the counties of Tipperary, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Offaly, and Meath, and included the Vice-President and Secretary of F.I.B.K.A. as well as four past-Presidents and the Editor of "The Irish Beekeeper" An Beachaire. Apologies were received from ten other members who were unable to attend due to other engagements on the day. The result of this influx of new blood will have a revitalising affect on the group which now has more than thirty paid up members. |
MAJOR EXPANSION IN BEE IMPROVEMENT.
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The Chairman, in welcoming the delegates, especially the new members, said that the numbers of the latter seemed to far exceed the older members. However even though they may be new to this bee improvement group, they certainly were not new to beekeeping as looking around the room it looked tike a "Who's Who in Beekeeping" in those counties which were represented. He said it was most gratifying to see that the work of this bee improvement group which was first formed on 30th December 1991 by four beekeepers from the Galtee/Vee Valley was at last being recognised. |
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This year the existing group had decided to expand its membership and also its bee improvement zone. The members felt it was now time to share the success of its endeavours and the experience it had gained from research over the past six years with other beekeepers who were interested in improving their bees. Invitations had been sent out to selected beekeepers within the designated improvement zone who had indicated in one way or another that they were interested in improving their own bees at least. Most were already members of B.I.B.B.A. and this was in line with the group's policy that its members should affiliate on an annual basis to that umbrella organisation as well as being paid up members of their own local Association of F.I.B.K.A.
NO STRICT RULES.
Apart from these there were no hard and fast rules attached to membership of the group but there were certain guidelines and suggestions which members would be well advised to follow so as to help them in their efforts at producing a better breed of bee. Members are advised to develop the technique of evaluating and recording certain characteristics of bee behaviour at each colony inspection. There is no time lost in this procedure as the evaluation takes place automatically during manipulation. The actual paperwork takes less than one minute to complete.
EVALUATION AND RECORDING PROCEDURES.
The Secretary Dennis Ryan demonstrated by means of overhead projector the system of colony evaluation and recording which has been developed and practised by Group members in recent years. He explained his own method of calculating points and rating his colonies based on records of evaluation of each colony during the season and how he arrived at a final grading of his colonies for selection of breeding material and culling of undesirable queens in the coming season. Each member was provided with a sample hive record form which gave a detailed explanation of the procedure on the reverse side of the sheet.
HYGIENIC BEHAVIOUR AND VARROA TOLERANCE.
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SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT.
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SPECIAL FUNCTIONS.
A number of members were given responsibility for a variety of functions which are basic to the working of the group for the coming year. Micheál Mac Giolla Coda and Dennis Ryan were re-elected Chairman and Secretary respectively and Redmond Williams agreed to act as Treasurer and also to maintain a register of members. Dr. Jacob Kahn said he would continue to co-ordinate the work of morphometry and evaluate the results of morphometric measurements which may be carried out by group members.
A membership fee of £5 was agreed on to cover the cost of postage and photocopying and this should be paid to Redmond as well as £10 Sterling, to cover membership of B.I.B.B.A. from 1st. Jan. 1998 if this had not already been paid direct to B.I.B.B.A. It is hoped to circulate two Newsletters this year and hopefully each paid up member will receive two specially selected queens of the Dark Galtee strain.
IMPORTANCE OF DOCILE BEES.
So as to emphasise the importance of maintaining docile bees a video on Queen Rearing from a German Scientific Institute was shown. This depicted the exceeding docility of the Carniolan bees of Germany. This was followed by a video made by Redmond Williams on the occasion of the B.I.B.B.A. Conference's visit to some apiaries in the Galtee/Vee Valley. This showed what can be achieved as regards docility in the Dark European Bee even in a short time. No protective clothing was worn by the operators in either of these videos and very little smoke was used.
MORAL OBLIGATION TO CULL AGGRESSIVE STRAINS.
There is no reason for maintaining aggressive bees today and these undesirable bees can be eliminated in a very short time just by culling the queens and replacing them with ones from a more docile strain. It is amazing that some beekeepers still proclaim that the more aggressive the bees the better they are for honey production. Even if this were so, it is not a valid reason for maintaining aggressive bees. Each beekeeper has a moral obligation to maintain docile bees only. We owe it to ourselves, to our families and friends, to our neighbours and their family members, to the members of the community where we manipulate our bees. Just imagine the consequences if somebody who is very allergic got stung by one of our aggressive bees.
PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES.
A programme of events involving group activity for the spring and early summer consists of:-
MORE MEMBERS WELCOME.
Any beekeeper who is interested in bee improvement and especially those within the designated area in which the group members are active are welcome to apply for membership of the Galtee Bee Breeding Group. This area may be roughly defined by drawing a line from Cork to Mallow, to Thurles, to Carlow, to Waterford. Interested beekeepers in Co. Offaly or Co. Meath or adjacent counties can also be put in touch with existing members with a view to forming new bee improvement groups in those areas.
Micheál Mac Giolla Coda
Transcribed from an article written for Bee Improvement, No. 1... Spring 1998
Written... 03 March 2005, Upgraded... 22 May 2005, Revised... 11 June 2005, Revised... 30 June 2005, Revised... 08, 09 January 2008, |
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Much discussion took place regarding Varroa and what members could do as regards diagnosis.
Members were advised to be ever vigilant and to check colonies on a continuous basis by the
use of floor inserts and Varroa screens. Any member who did not have a Varroa screen should
contact the Chairman, who may be in a position to supply one. Six sub-committees were
formed so as to establish a network to cover the group area with a view to drawing up a
programme for detection, monitoring, and treatment of the disease if and when it were
found. It was decided to try again this year to get members to evaluate colonies for
hygienic behaviour which may confer a resistance to or tolerance of Varroa. This method
would be fully demonstrated at the next apiary meeting at the end of April. The
sub-committees would also endeavour to identify the location of feral colonies and those
of beekeepers who were less well known and not members of any association. The co-operation
of these and other neighbouring beekeepers could also be enlisted in the ongoing work of
bee improvement.
The Chairman thanked those members who had helped the working of the group during the year
especially the Secretary Dennis Ryan who had given sterling service for some years now;
Redmond Williams for his work on microscopy, the making of videos, and the instrumental
insemination of queens; Liam Rice for his work on morphometry and survey of colony
locations; Dr Jacob Kahn for setting up a Website for the group on the Internet and his
current work on investigation of morphometric correlations. Congratulations were extended
to members who had achieved success in the Federation examinations including Dennis Ryan
and Gerard O'Donoghue on passing their Lecturer's exam, Claire Chavasse on passing the
Senior and Bea Flavin-Dunphy on passing Intermediate, as well as a number of members who
had passed their Preliminary exams. The Chairman also expressed gratitude to members of
B.I.B.B.A. especially Albert Knight who had helped the Group in many ways during the past
year.
