BBKA has completed the set-up phase of the online Learning Platform. Now, every BBKA Member can access study units by using their membership number as a login and creating an account at:

 https://learning.bbka.org.uk/ 

The types of study units are:

·  Units for individual beekeepers (free)

·  Units for the public, to raise awareness (free)

·  Correspondence courses (fee paying)

The first individual study units available are: Hygiene and Disease Inspection and Asian Hornet Awareness. More units will be added through the summer. If you have photos or videos that could be used please send them to:

mailto:photosandvideos@bbka.org.uk

The general public will have access to non-specialist study units about Asian Hornet and Swarming. Future materials will include planting for pollinators. If you can help with this, please contact jane.medwell@bbka.org.uk

Also BBKA News is now stored digitally on the Learning Platform, so you can enjoy reading past issues online.

The 2023 AGM was held at the Bee Academy on Sunday 2 April. A presentation was delivered by Martin Vevers, outgoing Chair and Steve Campbell, outgoing Treasurer highlighting the activities and financial performance over the period January - December 2022. A copy of the full Trustees' Annual Report on which the highlights were based is available to read Here 

Elections were held to appoint the Trustee Management Board for 2023 - 24. Helen Nelson was elected as Chair, Paul Casey as Vice Chair, Valerie Watt as Secretary and Malcolm Evans as Treasurer. 

Martin Vevers stood down as Chair, Rosemary Mackay as Secretary Steve Campbell as Treasurer and Lorraine Aitken as Trustee. Lorraine, Rosemary and Steve did not seek re-election. Martin was elected as a trustee. The other four trustees elected were Ian Evans, David Hennessey, Colin McKenzie and Neil Rutherford. 

The meeting also considered proposed changes to the Constitution as Adopted at the AGM in February 2020 and voted by a large majority to accept the changes proposed.

The meeting concluded with lunch and presentations to the retiring trustees to thank them for their work on behalf of the association.  

Our 2022/23 cohort of Foster Parents will be sitting their Basic Beekeeping Certificate exam in June this year. The 10th is in the diary but still to be confirmed. It will be an informative day with the friendly examiner's and also an opportunity to relax after it is all over with the Bee Academy open all day for light refreshments.

More than 11,000 beekeepers in the UK updated their information on BeeBase during the 2022 NBU Hive Count, up from around 9,000 in 2021. Currently, there are over 48,000 beekeepers registered on BeeBase and around 23% updated their records. The count revealed a slightly higher figure of 288,311 colonies in the UK compared to 272,631 in the previous year.   

Sign up to BeeBase Here

Bees play a pivotal role in US agriculture but are dying at alarming rates. Can this vaccine save them?

Watch a short BBC news video Here

The Scottish Beekeepers Association  will welcome back Professor Jürgen Tautz as the final guest lecture of their  winter webinar series.

Prof Tautz will be online on Weds 5th April to talk about the Nest of the Honeybee.

To book your FREE place please click on the link below

https://register.gotowebinar.com/regi.../6597528688019154189

Prof Tautz is a behavioural scientist, socio-biologist and bee expert. He is Professor of the Biocentre at the Julius Maximilians University in Würzburg, Germany and founder and chair of its BEE research group. He is also the author of several popular science books on bees and holder of the Communicator Award of the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – German Research Foundation).

#scottish #beekeeper #beekeeping #honeybee #webinar #online #education #knowledgeshare

For non-Scottish Beekeepers Association  members, the archive of the Scottish Beekeeper Magazine is now available on line. It is in PDF format and is searchable in blocks of one year, starting in 1924 up to 2020.

For access click Here

Last year we tried and tested a small number of honey super zipped bags in which the supers were kept before and after extraction. They proved very useful. Lorraine purchased them from Surrey Bees but was only able to obtain a small number.

The topic of extraction came up at a recently held apiary management group and it was agreed that we should try and purchase more. They are now in stock and in addition to using them for the association they will be made available to members. If you would like to purchase some for your own honey crop they can be ordered via the online shop. They will cost you £4.65 each. A small price to pay to keep your honey safe and sound.

Take me to the Online Shop   

We are looking forward to hosting the Scottish Beekeepers Association  Module Examination on Saturday 18 March. candidates will make their way to the Bee Academy for a 10:00am start. They will be writing Modules One, Two, Six and Seven papers. 

Many thanks to Neil Rutherford for helping to prepare Newbattle Beekeepers Association candidates with his weekly study Group sessions.