Members are invited to a evening of Kurling and a Fish & Chip Supper.

Thank you to all those who recently attended the Stafford Bee Group winter lecture on queen rearing.

I’m sure all those who attended will agree that Trevor, Jan and Dave did a fantastic job standing up in front of everyone to present their methods and talked through their experiences in queen rearing.

If you’d like to know more, or missed the lecture, Trevor and Jan have kindly shared their presentations. They have been added to the Resources Page for you, where you can find more information about queen rearing.

Saturday 4^th February 10.00am – 4.30pm

This year’s online conference will look at several difference aspects relating to the science surrounding Asian Hornets.  There will be a summary of some of the work done as part of the Atlantic Positive Project; a short introduction to the Asian Hornet life history; details of developments surrounding possible deterrents, detection and protection within apiaries; and an update on the situation in Europe.

Confirmed speakers:

• Peter Kennedy, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter
• Nigel Semmence, Contingency Planning & Science Officer, Bee Health Advisory Service – National Bee Unit 
• Xulio Maside Rodríguez, Univ. Santiago de Compostela  
• Ana Isabel Garcia, Univ. Santiago de Compostela  
• Maria Shantal Rodriguez Flores, Univ. Vigo (Ourense)  
• Ana Dieguez Anton, Univ. Vigo (Ourense) 
• Andrew Durham

Please go to our website to book your place:  https://www.bbka.org.uk/Event/asian-hornet-conference-2023

Kind regards

Anne Rowberry, BBKA President 

Honey Labelling Regulations – Petition

Please see details of the letter received from the BBKA below.

11^th January 2023

Dear BBKA member

I am writing to ask for your support for our SECOND honey petition which calls on the Government to change the Honey labelling rules so consumers can easily recognise all countries of origin of the honey contained in a jar sold here in the UK.  We urgently need as much support as possible to help us reach our goal of 100,000 signatures which means the Government must consider the issue for debate in Parliament.   The support of the general public and not just the beekeeping community is essential to achieve this result.

To find out more about the reasons we have raised this petition, please watch this short video: https://youtu.be/szsyb1TDgzw

To sign the petition – please click the following link:  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624402/

I think I’ve already signed the petition!

Please note this is our 2^nd honey petition so it is possible you are remembering signing the 1^st petition.  To be sure, please click the link above – the system will tell you if you have already signed when you enter your email address.  

I’d like to advertise the petition when I sell my honey – can you provide any resources to help?

There are a number of resources available on the BBKA website including QR codes with automatic links to the petition and some artwork:  https://www.bbka.org.uk/downloadable-resources

How else can I help?

If you are a user of social media, please share one of the BBKA social media posts: 

https://twitter.com/britishbee/status/1610271112671203330?s=20&t=x2uqrp3MDeWhi3VEV69paA
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm9qctrphI0/

You can also print off this QR code which can be scanned by your friends and family who have smartphones – they will be taken directly to the petition page:

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who has already signed the petition – your support is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Stephen Barnes

BBKA Chair