Advanced Warning
Chad Cryer

The Stoneleigh Spring Fair was as enjoyable as it had been promised to me, and I had a wonderful time. One thing did strike me though, despite the numerous mentions of Varroa, foul brood and the menace that is posed by that devilish small hive beetle, no mention whatsoever was made of the European bee-eater Merops apiaster which, living in many parts of Spain and central France, is on our very doorstep and has the potential to strike in Blitzkrieg fashion at anytime unless we are prepared to act quickly.

Through investigation I have calculated that a European bee-eater can weigh as much as 47 grammes. This equates to the combined weight of over 450 honeybees. I have searched the DEFRA website yet, unbelievably, have found no contingency plans against this particular threat. Consider this; a bee-eater will happily eat two hundred bees in a day, raising as many as six chicks at a time with the possibility of a second brood in a good year .Obviously the potential cost to the amateur bee-keeper, such as me, is astronomical.

There is one measure that one can take to deter bee-eaters from taking up residency in your area. The bee-eater tends to nest in banks or sheer clay faces where they dig burrows. Earlier this year I covered one such bank, by the stream where I live, with chicken wire and happily I have seen no evidence of bee-eaters ...yet.

Sadly, we also have several native species of bird which regularly include honeybees in their diets. All members of the Hirundinidae family: the swallows and martins, and of course the common swift Apus apus. To prevent numbers of these birds reaching unacceptable levels I have made the following suggestions.

The nesting of swallows in your out-buildings can be reduced if you ensure that all barn and out-house doors (including garages) are shut throughout the months of April to July. Any derelict or door-less buildings should be pulled down. Regular cleaning of the eaves of your house will ensure that the unsightly nests of house martins are removed or prevented from building up, this job should be performed twice weekly from April to August.

.The plugging of gaps under the tiles at eave level will reduced infestations of swifts and help to reduce the late summer menace presented by the swift's screaming call which, in my opinion poses a public nuisance. Despite the most recent report of a pair of European Bee-eaters breeding in the British Isles being more than twelve years ago, we should not be lulled into a false sense of security. As a migratory bird, bee-eaters are easily capable of covering hundreds of miles in a day. You will not find the members of the Cornish Bee-keepers association are so blasé about this threat. They have had to live with this imminent danger for many years. I must therefore urge all members to be vigilant and not to become complacent.