Visiting beekeeper speaks to local association

A spokesperson for the local association said: “Phil is a passionate educator to both young and old and is significantly involved in providing taster beekeeping sessions through purpose built demonstration hives at public events and mentoring Duke of Edinburgh students completing their award.

“He shared stories from his 2015 beekeeping year that defined his success and surprisingly these had nothing to do with honey output.

“He believes sharing, learning and guiding others to be the true measure of success.

“He went on to explain that if honey output is the measure of your success then three things need to be on your side; good available forage, reasonable weather and strong healthy bees.

He joked – ‘you can’t control the weather’ but the other two are in the hands of the beekeeper.

“Transporting bees to sources of forage or creating additional habitat through planting is an option.

“In order to have strong bees means treating all diseases such as Varroa and having a young queen who has a greater laying capacity and strong pheromones for colony cohesion. He reminded beekeepers that preparing for winter starts in the autumn, as these bees will last up to six months.

“He finished on recognising topical brood diseases and pests such American Foul Brood and the Small hive beetle.”

The next Dromore Beekeepers’ association meeting will be ono March 15 at Dromore High School and Association Secretary, Jesus Borobia, will be speaking about ‘Beeswax and how to process’.

The meeting will begin at 7.30pm and and everyone is welcome to attend.

For further information check out http://www.dromorebeekeepers.org.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/Dromore-Beekeepers .