Sustainability: Bees and Queens for Everyone

“Sustainability: Bees and Queens for Everyone”
Using low-cost, simple methods
There is growing concern amongst beekeepers of all abilities and experience regarding the impact of the importation of bees and queens. Possible risks include:
* Biosecurity. The introduction of pests (e.g. Small Hive Beetle and Tropilaelaps – both notifiable), diseases and pathogens.
* Aggression in subsequent generations.
* Unsuitability to our fickle climate, along with higher than expected winter losses.
* Genetic contamination of both managed and free-living honey bee populations.
See https://www.bibba.com/imports/ for more information.

All National BKA’s have concerns, so discourage the importation of bees and queens.
There will be a series of one-day regional courses during the 2024/25 winter period to help and encourage everyone from the small-scale beekeeper upwards (and BKAs) to produce bees and queens from locally adapted stock, using simple techniques at little or no cost.
Topics include:
● Why raise your own local adapted queens?
● Addressing perceived problems in producing queens in the U.K.
● Overwintering bees and queens.
● Demystifying queen rearing for beekeepers.
● Simple queen rearing methods.
● Simple and efficient ways to produce nuclei.
● Methods for producing small and larger quantities of bees and queens.
● Benefits of teaching apiaries with a queen rearing facility.
● Queen rearing as a collective exercise.
● Producing bees and queens whilst still getting a good honey crop.
● Queen rearing and bee improvement as part of your beekeeping.
This BIBBA course is aimed at beekeepers of all abilities from beginners to the most experienced,
as well as BKA officials, beekeeping teachers, apiary managers, etc.

Each course will typically run from 10am to 4pm and, to keep costs down, please bring along your own lunch and refreshments.
Booking must be made in advance as all previous courses had sold out before the day.

For further information see www.bibba.com