Dear Kennet Beekeeper,
Please note all future club meetings will now take place on the 1st Wednesday of the month and I am delighted to welcome this Wednesday, 3rd April @ 7.30pm, a renowned beekeeper – Celia Davis presenting her talk entitled “The Challenges of Beekeeping”. The talk will take place at the usual venue – Bishop Cannings Village Hall, SN10 2LA.
We are really lucky to have Celia Davis as one of our speakers this year and I do urge you to come to this talk. Celia has a Degree in Agriculture, was a biology teacher and lecturer and began keeping bees in 1980. She passed all the BBKA beekeeping examinations, winning both the Robert Hammond Award and the Wax Chandlers’ Prize, before gaining her NDB (National Diploma in Beekeeping) in 1994. She has taught beekeeping since 1992 to a range of students from Basic level up to Advanced, has been a tutor on the BBKA Correspondence Course for many years and is an examiner at all levels up to, and including, NDB. She served for six years on the BBKA Examinations Board. She has written many articles for various publications over the years and has authored two books: “The Honey Bee Inside Out” and “The Honey Bee Around and About,” now both in their second editions.
I am delighted to confirm to KBKA members that the committee has agreed to purchase the Arnia remote hive monitoring kit. If you want to learn more about it go to https://www.arnia.co.uk. The exciting thing is that it works all the time and you will be able to see the state of two of the clubs hives day in day out – all on your home computer. Watch this space and hopefully we will be able to give you the link to monitored KBKA bees shortly.
If you are interested in the Apiary Skills course that Dick Church has kindly arranged, and should you be interested in Beekeeping Equipment for Sale, (please see email version of chairmans letter for further details).
KBKA is always on the lookout for new apiary sites. Both our present sites are on a rolling agreement and we have no security of tenure – so there is no point in investing in a big club shed etc. I am looking to secure the Canals and River Trust site on a more permanent basis, but it is still to be confirmed. So please let me know if you hear of anything else that may be suitable.
I have only had one person who request package bees, though several have mentioned in passing a possible need. This is just a reminder that if you are interested
Please let me know by the end of this week and I will confirm if I have sufficient demand to warrant a bulk order.
We have two past members who are sadly giving up beekeeping but have equipment to sell. If you are interested please find further details at the very bottom of this newsletter.
Finally, I expect the talk this Wednesday to be very popular – so I would urge you to get there in time before it becomes standing room only.
With best wishes,
Robert Carpenter Turner
Chairman Kennet Beekeepers
Tel: – 01672 852265 email:- chairman@kennet-beekeepers.co.uk