NATIONAL HONEY SHOW 2008

If you were planning to visit this year’s National Honey Show, you should note that it will be held at a new venue - St George’s College, Weybridge, Surrey KT15 2QS - from 30th October until 1st November. The college is situated just off the M25 at junction 11, and it is just a short walk from Addlestone station. It has excellent facilities – lecture theatre, good halls, on-site catering, ample car-parking and a number of classrooms for workshops and other activities. Unfortunately the date for the Show had to be changed to fit in with the College’s half-term. More information about the attractive new programme of speakers and workshops will be issued in due course.

BRANCH LIBRARY

The Branch has a library of beekeeping books, videos and magazines, which may be borrowed by members free of charge. The Branch Librarian is Irene Tout, who brings the library to all of our Branch indoor meetings.

BUMBLEBEE ‘ID CARD’

A few bumblebees were seen during February, but they will probably start to appear in greater numbers this month. If you find it as difficult to identify the various species as I do, you may like to know about a free identification guide for the six commonest species of bumblebees in lowland areas which can be downloaded from the Natural History Museum’s website .This colourful card may come in handy next time you are called out to deal with a “swarm” which turns out to be a bumblebee’s nest.