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Three Easy Steps
1. Does it look very black?
2. Has it got a wide orange stripe on 4th segment of abdomen?
3. Do its legs look as if they have been dipped in yellow paint?
Animal & Plant Health Agency have put together a short film to help you identify them too:
YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4DRki97wzg
Sound of an Asian Hornet
This was recorded in a bathroom at BBKA trustee Bob Hogge's house in Jersey where he is keeping a colony of Asian Hornets for study. The Asian Hornets have a very deep buzz: Hornet_Buzz_(1).mp3
Insect Look-A-Likes
This is an European Hornet This is a Giant Wood Wasp ...
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YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heV-pVJ0MdY
Conference Timetable
Time
Speaker
Subject
10.00
Anne Rowberry
Welcome
10.10 - 10.55
Andrew Durham, Cambridgeshire BKA
Asian Hornet - Beekeepers Guide (Defences in the Apiary)
11.00 – 11.15
BREAK
11.15 - 11:55
Nigel Semmence, APHA/NBU
Update on Asian Hornet position in UK
12.00 - 12.55
Xulio Maside Rodríguez, Univ. Santiago de Compostela
· Introduction to Atlantic Positive project, and
· Interactions of invasive V. velutina with parasites of European honeybees and other native Hymenoptera
12.55 - 13.20
LUNCH
13.20 – 14.00
Maria Shantal Rodriguez Flores & Ana Dieguez Anton, Univ. Vigo (Ourense)
Pressure of Asia...
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The following training courses are now available to book: Advanced Husbandry Assessment Preparation Training - 3 day residential
Bee Handling & Husbandry Course - 5 day residential
General Husbandry Assessment Preparation Training - 20 hours over 3 days
Honey Bee Health Training for Tutors - 1 day
Queen Rearing Course - 1 day
For further details and to book your place click here.
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January is a time of year when we spend a lot of our time cleaning, repairing and getting our equipment ready for the new season ahead. It has been a wet and windy winter so far, and at times we have been worried about our hives blowing over with the strength of some of the gales we’ve had recently, but we made sure that all our hives were securely strapped together going into winter.
We learn a lot about the bees here at Ashbrow, and for the first part of this term we have been learning all about winter feeding. All our bees have survived the recent bad weather and high winds, and we were relieved to see them busily munching their winter fondant feed this week. We try to check them every week, and so far we have just one of our 10 hives requiring a second pack of fondant. It’s important to ensure the bees have plenty of food to last them through till the spring.
We hefted the hives this week and found them all to be a reasonably healthy weight, however,...
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Find out more and book for the BBKA Spring Convention
Download the 2023 Spring Convention programme here
BOOK HERE from Noon on 30th January
Workshops and seminars need to be booked.
Lectures CANNOT be pre-booked. Entry is included with a full Convention wristband or full day ticket for the appropriate day (not Trade Show only). Don't forget the Not for Profit Exhibition on Friday and Saturday; Trade show and Speakers Corner just on Saturday.
The full schedule is in the full programme pages 50-52. When you have ordered your tickets you will be sent a copy of the programme. In the meantime, download the full version and you're able to plan your day. Download the Full 2023 Spring Convention programme here
There are lectures, seminars and workshops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Not for Profit Exhibition is open on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd and also on Saturday there's the Trade Show. See the full programme for more details. Details of all exhib...
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Statement from the British Beekeepers' Association President, Anne Rowberry, on banned bee-killing pesticides: “The BBKA is totally opposed to the use of this and similar pesticides due to their effect on honeybees and other pollinators, and the wider environment.
The UK government has yet again issued a licence for the temporary use of this banned bee-killing pesticide just days after the EC High Court ruled that all temporary licences for banned pesticides were forbidden in Europe.
Our government’s Environment Policy rewards farmers for planting more wildflowers for pollinators. Surely these temporary licences make a mockery of encouraging more pollinators onto farmland.
As a matter of urgency, the BBKA would be grateful if you could register your opposition to any use of banned bee-killing pesticides by writing to your MP.” Further information is available here.
For interviews please contact: Diane Roberts, Press Officer on 07841 625797 24th Janu...
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Not for Profit Exhibition Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd & Trade Show Saturday 22nd
The Trade Show will be open on Saturday 22nd this year with all main suppliers and leading companies represented. Trade Show Exhibition Saturday 08.30 - 16.30
Trade Show Only day tickets, are available at £6 on Saturday at reception in the Faccenda building. All on the day payments by card please.
(See Pp 44-47 of the Full Programme)
Available as a download showing list of traders and floor plans of both Trade Show and Not for Profit Exhibition
On both Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd April, attendees are welcome to browse the Not for Profit exhibition, including the main BBKA stand, in the Regional Food Academy foyer. Then on Saturday 22nd only, 08.30 – 16.30 you can add to your beekeeping kit in the Commercial Trade Show, in the Sports Hall and Students Union. Thanks to our traders, advertisers and sponsors we are able to keep the cost of...
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Frequently Asked Questions
Please check these FAQs for answers. If the information you seek isn’t here, or in the Full Programme, contact details are at the end of the page.
Where and when is the Convention? The Convention is held at Harper Adams University, Shropshire, TF10 8NB; 21st – 23rd April 2023, with a Welcome dinner at 6.30pm on Thursday 20th.
Will the 2022 Convention lectures be available virtually? Although the event will mainly be face-to-face, the intention is to record at least four lectures on Saturday 22nd April in the Weston Lecture Theatre and the 5pm Virtual Lectures on Friday and Saturday. Once edited, these should be available at a later date on the BBKA YouTube Channel.
When is the Trade Show? The Commercial Trade Show is on Saturday 22nd only: 08.30 – 16.30. There is a Not-for-Profit Exhibition on both Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd.
When are online bookings open? From noon on 30th January to 11th April, or until acco...
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If you have a research proposal that you believe would be of interest to the BBKA then please contact us by email to request an application form: bbka@bbka.org.uk Please be aware that we need at least 6 – 8 weeks to appraise all requests. It is important, therefore, to allow sufficient time for all applications to be considered as there will not be an instant reply to any submissions. Unfortunately, we are not able to fund research in overseas areas or offer any funding to overseas researchers. Also, we are not able to fund or assist with new equipment for beekeeping, new feed or treatment products or support commercial products.
All requests for funding are submitted to the Research Committee which comprises elected BBKA Trustees. If the Research Committee, in conjunction with an expert panel, believes the application is valid and of interest it will then go to the BBKA Executive Committee for final approval of funding.
We are also approached by researcher...
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These are the research projects which the BBKA is currently funding:
Prof F Ratneiks, University of Sussex: Availability of summer bee forage in domestic garden lawns: flower species, bee and insect species and effects of lawn management.
Dr Barbara Smith, Coventry University: Thriving Hive - mapping particulate presence in apiculture across the UK. Further information is available here.
Dr R Vinkenoog & Catherine Baldock, Northumbria University: Quantifying the importance of tree floral resources for pollinators in urban landscapes. This research hopes to answer various questions such as:
How much pollen and nectar resources are produced by trees in urban landscapes?
How do pollinators use urban tree resources in urban landscapes?
What is the importance of urban trees for pollinators, and what is the importance of these pollinators for urban trees?
How does the addition of urban trees affect city-scale plant-pollinator comm...
