Members’ Monthly Meeting, Shipston Beekeepers
The Shipston Beekeepers branch is holding its monthly, 2nd Monday of the month, virtually. This will be conducted over Zoom and details will be advised prior to the meeting.
Please contact the branch Secretary for more details on how to join this virtual event.
Members’ Monthly Meeting, Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham Beekeepers Association
This the branch’s monthly meeting and, as COVID-19 restrictions persist, will beheld online via Zoom. This month’s talk will be on Honeybee Democracy and will be presented by Dave Bonner.
Information and details for the Zoom Meeting will shown on our website, approximately 3 days prior to the talk.
British Beekeepers Association, 61st Annual Delegate Meeting
The British Beekeepers Association is holding its 61st Annual Delegate Meeting. This will be held virtually using Zoom. More details will become available soon.
Some of the propositions to be put to the ADM include:
- Increasing the annual capitation from £19 to £21 (effective Oct 2022) to
offset a significant and believed continuing drop in donations to the Charity; - Changing the voting system at the ADM to a single tier weighted system;
- The introduction of a set of criteria and procedures that will need to be met
and followed before a new Area Association can be accepted as such.
Should you have any questions or would like to provide feedback, please contact Douglas Nethercleft, WBKA ADM Delegate
Members’ Monthly Meeting, Coventry Beekeepers
The monthly members meeting for Coventry Beekeepers will feature a talk by Andrew and Sarah Heath on the BBKA Apiary and the activities around it. As per current country-wide restrictions, the event will be held virtually using Zoom.
Please contact Dave Bonner for more details on how to join this talk.
Warwickshire and Beekeeper’s Members’ Monthly Meeting
The Branch monthly meeting will be held virtually, over Zoom. Please contact the Rachel Dove, branch members’ meeting co-ordinator, for details on how to join the meeting.
This month’s talk will be on Asian Hornets, by Gordon Bull – Regional Bee Inspector.
About the Presenter: Gordon is a biologist who started keeping bees at his home in the North Cotswolds in 2008. He quickly became completely enthralled with the subject and despite vowing in the 1970s that he would never sit another exam, he worked his way through the BBKA system and qualified as a Master Beekeeper in 2015. His beekeeping interests include queen rearing and raising nucs.
In 2014 he chose a complete change of career and joined the NBU as a Seasonal Bee Inspector. He started in the Southern Team inspecting in Northamptonshire and the Gloucestershire-Oxfordshire borders and in 2018 moved to Western to cover Worcestershire and parts of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. He was in the teams that dealt with the Tetbury and Woolacombe hornet outbreaks and recently gained some hands-on experience of Small Hive Beetle while on holiday in Australia.
The Warwick and Leamington Beekeepers Association Book Club
Join us and Jane Ford, our WLBKA Librarian, every month for an evening where we discuss all books concerning bees! This will be a virtual meeting using Zoom. Please contact Jane for the details of the event and passcode.
This month’s book is:
Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson
About the Author: Thor Hanson is a biologist whose research and conservation activities have taken him around the globe. His previous books include The Impenetrable Forest, Feathers (longlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize), and The Triumph of Seeds. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4 and contributed to publications including BBC Wildlife and the Huffington Post. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest, USA.
Reviews of the book: ‘Buzz is a must-read for anyone with an inkling of an interest in the natural history of bees. Thor Hanson tells the story of bees, right from the beginning, from their evolution to how ancient civilizations recognised their importance to become honey hunters and beekeepers. The book goes well beyond the story of honeybees though, accounting for the lives of a multitude of species from bumblebees to leaf-cutters, and the hugely important role they play in pollinating our crops and wildflowers. Eloquent and captivating throughout, Hanson writes in a way which is accessible for all; his appendices, notes and glossary provide more detailed information and are as highly recommended as the main text.’ — Darryl Cox
‘Popular science at its intelligent best’ — The Economist
‘Thor Hanson is a gifted story teller and naturalist. In Buzz, he takes us along on a wondrous, action-packed journey to discover the secret lives of bees, flowers, and the unconventional men and women who study them. This book really is the buzz about bees, and it’s destined to become a natural history classic.’ — Stephen Buchmann
“Beekeeping in an Urban environment”
A talk by Bermondsey Street Bees, of London.
11th February 19:30 via Zoom
The current sustainability crisis facing London’s beekeepers.
London is the most densely-populated city in Europe (and, possibly, The World) for honeybees – and has seen unrelenting growth in fashion-led beekeeping in recent years, while disease has risen exponentially and yields have fallen dramatically.
The website (https://www.bermondseystreetbees.co.uk/
Our website has a Sustainability page https://www.bermondseystreetbees.co.uk/apicultural-consulting-biodiversity-projects/ which touches on this topic.
You can register now by clicking on the following link.
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9qKUrsUGToWg7IrhksCYqQ
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Coventry Beekeepers Annual General Meeting
As per the current restrictions, the Coventry Beekeepers branch will be holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM) virtually, using Zoom.
The AGM will be followed by a session “Ask the oldies – The new season” in which all are encouraged to share their questions with other beekeepers.
Please contact the branch secretary, Dave Bonner, for more details.
Upcoming WLBK 88th AGM
With Covid-19 restrictions, whatever they are at the time, there is still a need to have our Annual General Meeting in February 2021.
Clearly the opportunity to meet in person is extremely unlikely and the committee took the early decision to build on the experience of the County Association, which conducted a very successful (special) Annual General Meeting earlier in the year. We decide to bring together those who wish to be virtual attendees using Eventbrite. Following on from this, the meeting itself will be held using Zoom. Only those who have expressed a wish to virtually attend will be given the meeting logon details. This evidently is considered “good practice” in the new virtual world.
At the County Association (special) AGM the Zoom facility to register attendees voting was extensively used and we anticipate also using this facility. Clearly there is some work to be done by the committee members to ensure the smooth operation of the meeting on the day.
As an early notice, the formal dates for notifications, etc. are set out below:
- Notify Members of AGM by 21 January 2021
- Deadline for receipt of proposals by 4 February 2021
- Circulation of Agenda for AGM by 11 February 2021
Apologies – Cancelled due to COVID
For those interested in taking up Beekeeping as a hobby.
Come and join Coventry Branch of the Warwickshire Beekeepers Association for a weekend to learn more about Beekeeping
A two day Beginner Beekeeping course – Venue TBC
20th/21st February 2021
Details HERE