Dear Kennet BeeKeeper,
A Happy New Year to you all and your families.
Have you made you BeeKeepers New Year Resolutions yet? I have a three suggestions:-
1. Keep hive records. Really useful.
2. Learn about the Asian Hornet Pest. Really important.
3. Offer to do something to help our club. Put yourself forward to take over from me!
Yes, I am defiantly retiring as your Chairman at our October AGM as I don’t want to be thought of as holding office for too long and being too old, says I, thinking of a certain Presidential election about to take place! As a future Chair of KBKA you don’t need to be on the committee at present, and you don’t really need to be a brilliant beekeeper, you just need to be able to hold a meeting together in a friendly and sincere way while remembering that this club is mainly made up of hobbyist beekeepers and members who enjoy the social, as well as the practical beekeeping side. Do please feel free to ring me about the role of our Chair that needs to be filled at the October AGM in 2024.
Monday 1st January at The APIARY 12.00 noon on New Years Day KBKA get together for all members. The weather is really a bit too warm for us to be demonstrate trickling Oxalic Acid for varroa – but we will show you how to do this. This is also a social gathering when you bring some mulled wine and mince pies etc., to share around. Bring your bee suits if you want to see and/or help activities such as hefting for weight or helping with the trickling, but other than that just bring yourself dressed up warm, and stay in the shelter of the apiary buildings and have your first bee chat of the year – I hope to be there but am cooking lunch for eight people that day!
The first Wednesday of every month is usually our lecture/talk club night at Bishop Cannings village hall. Doors open at 7.00 pm for tea/coffee at the events which start at 7.30 pm. Please mark this in you new diaries. Wednesday 3rd January is when we are making a special effort to make you all aware of the Asian Hornet threat. It is only after you have seen them that your really know what they look like. I often feel I am flogging a dead horse, or should I say bee hives in the plural, with this, but it really is important for us to get to grips with this pest from afar. At the bottom of this email are the details of tickets to the Asian Hornet Conference being held on Saturday 6 January, a refund for which will be available from WBKA.
I do not want to over do the Asian Hornet information but there is a ‘Special Briefing for Beekeepers – Update for 2024‘, from the BBKA on Tuesday 16th January at 7.00pm via Zoom.
The topics discussed:- The situation as at the end of 2023, The effect on beekeeping, The prospect for 2024 and beyond. This talk is open to all members but I wish to encourage all who are thinking about joining our AHAT team to attend. Here is the Zoom link:
I am putting together a full programme of events for 2024 and hope to have a printed card out for you all by February. There are some very exciting bee things being planned so watch out for this information.
All best wishes for a successful 2024 of BeeKeeping
Robert