Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers

2007 Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers Conference

by Orlich

The fourth annual conference of the Institute was upon us and it just seemed like a few weeks since the last one. I had heard that this year the conference venue was moving and I was dismayed. I then heard that it was going to Ballymena and I was doubly dismayed. It is said that the folk of Ballymena carry wee spanners in their pockets that fit exactly the flats on a 50pence piece, so that they can screw them out of the unwary. The thought of the poor innocent beekeepers of the Province falling into their hands made me very uneasy.

I wasn't in the church hall of St Patrick's five minutes till I understood the brilliant decision to have a change of venue. This magnificent hall has everything. Lots of space and light, lots of modern equipment and a sumptuous kitchen. They also have a little side room, about the size of the courthouse in Hillsborough which was needed to house the Great Honey Show. Anyway, the venue sets a new high for the Institute and there will be tears when we have to return to the courthouse next year, but more importantly what was the agenda? After a filling sausage and bap breakfast and half an hour spent meeting auld friends, we were ushered to our seats to commence the day of erudition, diluted with a little entertainment.

The speakers and guests were introduced to the audience and first item on the agenda was the election of our new president. This was a Mr. Turnbull, an English beekeeper and obviously of some expertise, for only a truly experienced beekeeper would have the confidence to regale us with the mistakes and disasters in his apiculturally challenged career. We have all made those same mistakes, but I cannot, for the life of me, ever imagine letting on, especially to a packed house. Perhaps it was his experience in front of the cameras that gave him the unghst.

The first speaker, Jacquie Bunce, a Canadian bee inspector and entomologist of some note, gave a most interesting lecture on the importance of the honey bee, its role in pollination and her role in the control of bee diseases within British Colombia and specifically her district of Vancouver. She talked about a patch of 6,000 acres of blueberries as if it was her back garden. The whole stress was on cleanliness, good housekeeping and vigilance in the eradication of both pests and diseases. It would be very advantageous if this lady was to produce a copy of her notes on this subject for use by the Ulster beekeepers.
The next speaker was Scott Gordon, a small time commercial beekeeper. He ran over 300 hives for pollination of the various crops and it was most enlightening the ways the farmers manage the natural bee forage to force them to pollinate the cranberries, a crop with little attraction for the poor bee. Personally I thought that 300 hives was quite enough for anybody to manage. Pollination is big, big business over the water.

A break for lunch was called for, so that we could digest all that we had learnt and make preparations for a rather succulent chicken fricassee over soft simmered rice with just a hint of herbs, or you could have had spuds. All this followed by apple pie or meringue and of course coffee. A rather nice touch was the invitation for all the chairmen and presidents of the UBKA local associations to join Mr Turnbull and his dearly beloved, at the top table.

During the lunch break I took the opportunity to give the honey show the once over. Very impressive and quite obvious why so many prizes from the national show in London make their way to the Province. One hundred and ninety two entries must make this one of the largest shows in Ulster.

After lunch the first speaker was Mr. Tim Lovett, chairman of The British Bee Keepers' Association. He gave a brief outline of his association and the duties it performs on behalf of all British beekeepers in negotiations with the Government and the various ministries both in Britain and Europe. I was most impressed by this speaker and it was during his talk that I realised that it behoves us here in Northern Ireland to throw our support behind the BBKA in its fight to get proper support for the thousands of hobbyist beekeepers throughout these islands and their increasingly difficult task of keeping apiculture alive.

Our own home grown speaker was Mr. Bill Thomas, the Northern Ireland's chief inspector for control of bee diseases. In his talk he outlined the best practice of disease control and the most up-to-date methods of Varroa control. Somehow I just couldn't get the vision of that 6,000acres of blueberries out of my head.

After coffee Michael Young gave a little presentation of the committee members and others as they were a few years ago, well perhaps more than a few years ago, to a rapturous audience. Attempts to obtain a copy of the photographs have, so far, proved unsuccessful. A small donation of £50 was given to Rev. Sam Millar for "Bees in Africa" All the speakers were presented with a Blackthorn Shillelagh with their names engraved. Of course, the piper, by now most of the stalwarts of the conferences were expecting it, not our new president and his reaction to it all was worth seeing.

The conference ended with the usual ice-cream buffet and we all said our farewells to our friends, old and new, wishing them a better season next year and making a firm date to meet again at next year's conference.

The next speaker was Thomas Williamson, senior Bee Inspector for dept. of Ag. His talk ranged from how to get Varroa samples, how to send them and how to deal with the beast itself. The two foul broods were discussed with the importance of reporting suspect colonies. He also gave some scary information on the small hive beetle and how it crosses borders so easily. It can live within fruit for a considerable time.

I must end this little report by thanking the hall committee, minister and all concerned with our welfare during the conference, they did St. Patrick's and Ballymena proud. We must record that Rick proposed to Jacquie on the day and was accepted. That's the influence of Ireland for you. We wish you all the luck in the world so Haste Ye Back.