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Sitting here with the rain drumming on the window it is difficult to think ahead to an active beekeeping season - but that is what we must do.

The first event which you need to know about is the Asian Hornet Workshop to be held at the Sunninghill Community Hall, Culliford Road in Dorchester. The event is on this Sunday the 18th February from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and includes:

  • Update on the Asian Hornet situation in the County from Mark White
  • Tea and Cakes
  • Talk by Pollenize on using AI for Asian Hornet detection.
  • There will be local and regional experts there with an opportunity for questions.

We were hoping to give out some Trappit but at the moment it is impossible to get hold of. There will be recipes for making your own.

Also next week we are starting the Beginners Course for aspiring beekeepers - or those just interested in beekeeping. Full details are avaialble on this web site.

I have received the following email from Amie

Hi, I am Amie a 3rd-year university student at Royal Holloway, University of London. I am writing to all Beekeeping associations within the UK to conduct a study for my final year undergraduate project. As I aim to survey beekeepers, I hope that you will be able to assist me.

My project aims to investigate Beekeeper practices within the UK and attitudes held towards wild bee species. I conducted a previous survey at the National Honey Show in October 2023 and now have a revised survey based on the responses from that.

The research project is a core component of my course and thus I would be extremely grateful if you could aid me. My survey takes about 4-5 minutes. 

 As it is on Google Forms, all answers are anonymous and no personal data is collected (including emails and phone numbers).

The link to the form is https://forms.gle/GrKqeJ5oGvCRLSez7 

or

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf_yzOu7rE-xLO7eJUAAYh1XSJ3d-QwPqBolAy7t6RvPeSyeg/viewform?usp=sf_link

This is an easy survey taking only a few minutes and does make you ask yourself why you keep bees. It is worth doing if it will aid research into attitudes of beekeepers to the environment.

And don't forget our upcoming AGM:

For those of you who are just thinking about becoming beekeepers I can highly recommend the Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers Beginners Course starting in February. But then of course I would recommend it as I am one of the speakers! It is a course we have run before and feedback has always been good.

For those looking for something else then there is the Somerset Annual Lecture Day. There will be a packed programme of talks, workshops and a trade hall aimed at beekeepers at all levels.

The programme at present includes:

Lectures:

Beekeeping techniques for the better beekeeper: Gerry Collins NDB
Understanding the evolution of natural Varroa-tolerance mechanisms in various beekeeping populations: Professor Stephen Martin
Catch it if you can! Gerry Collins NDB
Bees and how we care for them - translating bee research into real world conservation: Professor Juliet Osborne

Workshops: - choose one workshop in the morning and one in the afternoon.

a Microscopy: Bridget Knutson
b How to keep bees in poor weather - and survive: Geoff Blay
c Morning only! Beekeeping with Asian hornets: Richard Noel - Brittany beefarmer
c Afternoon only! Making Asian hornet traps: Colin Lodge
d Morning only! Integrated Pest Management Meghan Seymour, SW Bee Inspector & team
d Afternoon only! What is most likely to kill my bees apart from Asian Hornets? Meghan Seymour, SW Bee Inspector & team
You need to have purchased a ticket to attend the workshops;

Then there is the BBKA Beekeepers Convention. This will be held in Shropshire from April 12th to 14th. This is always a well attended show - well it is organised by beekeepers for beekeepers. There is a very full programme of events - far too many for me to describe here. Why not head over to the BBKA site and find out more. All of the lectures are popular - but some are fully booked sooner than others - so better get your bookings in as soon as they open at noon on Monday January 29th - that is next Monday.

Well I hope that gives you a good range of possible places to go to find out more about beekeeping.

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