Biosecurity kit

[Jon]

If we save up enough points we could trade them in for a PO ferry ticket to visit Jon's bee breeding set up (You get 4 times the value on PO and Eurostar etc)

That hi tec system involves cell cups from buzzybee shop, a fine paintbrush for moving larvae, and so far this year two queenless colonies and two queenright ones for grafting into.
One thing which has worked is getting a group together which gives access to maybe 70 apideas so there is a home waiting for any cells produced.

Getting back on topic I would need to take on board the possible disease implications of having all those apideas with other beekeepers' bees in and out of my apiary.

[Dan]

Gavin - good general kit. Mine is the same but different - well we are beekeepers, aren't we?!

I pre-mix my soda wash in a 5l bucket with lid. In this live a green plastic pan scrubber and a wire pan scrubber. The mix discolours quickly but this is generally because it is such an excellent solvent(?) for propolis. Gets rinsed and refilled regularly of course, but it means it's there at a moment's notice in the Land Rover and travels without spills between apiaries. Hive tools don't live in there as I prefer Taylor's non-stainless types.

A trick I learnt from the local inspector is to carry some round tip forceps for easing 'interesting' larvae or pupae out of cells. Matchsticks can rupture them too easily.

I make sure I attend at least one 'disease day' a year to keep my eye in - both for signs on the comb and for diagnosis under the microscope. Locally we have good and enthusiastic inspectors and of course the two NBU extension officers, by chance, so such events are regular.

I too have seen test kits fail; you have to be very specific to guarantee a positive result from a positive sample in the field, where you may not have the luxury of 'textbook' samples to pick from. I agree strongly with the advice to not carry your own test kits but call the inspector in as & when. Those field test kits have a relatively short 'best before' date too, so an out-of-date kit in the hands of a well-meaning but inexperienced user risks false negatives.

[Dan]

I would need to take on board the possible disease implications of having all those apideas with other beekeepers' bees in and out of my apiary.

The apideas will be as clean as the hives they were stocked from, and the gloves they were handled with. You've got an interesting hygiene boundary because it overlaps your mating apiary and (technically) those that any apideas were stocked from. Worst case scenario is that your mating apiary becomes a hub for disease transfer

If you can afford it in future, I'd consider one or two strong colonies loaned to the mating apiary as designated donors for stocking anybody's apideas through the season. Bring them in cleaned, provisioned, and ready to go, stock in the apiary, add queen cell. That way you remove a concern, material only ever flows out of the mating apiary. The donors could also usefully double as drone mothers but watch varroa & virus levels if you do.

[Jon]

That makes complete sense Dan, especially if the donor colony can also be a drone producer.
We have been given a really good site on a National Trust property but did not have time to set up the drone colonies this year. Next year everything will move over there. There is an additional site 200 yards away with a long north facing hedge where the apideas will be set out. Roll on 2012.

[The Drone Ranger]

Gloves of all types powdered or not synthetic or impregnated with lanolin or aloe vera all less than the B/Q ones at www.justgloves.co.uk

I wear two pairs and replace the top ones after each hive

[gavin]

Thanks for the link. I just spent £18.20 at B&Q for 200 gloves, fool that I am.