Dorchester and Weymouth Bee Keepers Association

Apologies for talking about Christmas before we are even in November but I know how social calendars fill up at this time of year. The reason for drawing it to your attention is to let you know that Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers will be holding their Christmas Event.

Our Christmas Social will be on December 2nd from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Colliton Club in Dorchester. This year there will be a light hearted quiz and sausage and chips - including a vegetarian option.

As I said the weather is not so good now and the nights are drawing in and BeeInfo continues to grow as I learn more. The latests page to be added is on Laying Workers. If you have them then it is not good but go the BeeInfo page to see how to find out if you have it and what you can try to get over it.

And finally can I remind you that if you have not yet renewed your membership of the Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers then that is now due.

This week we received the bad news that Bee Equipment Ltd had gone into liquidation.

This week we received the good news that Hagen's Bees has acquired the intellectual rights and the remaining stock. To be honest I had not heard of them but I have had a look at the website and they look like one to watch.

Now that the weather has closed in and the nights are longer I am able to put some more time into the BeeInfo section of this website. I have added a page on the bee brush and the hive tool. The website is becoming a lot more popular and as a result we have had technical issues resulting in a slower load time. We have taken steps to improve this and hopefully the service is back up to the standard we expect.

The aim with BeeInfo is to present information for the beekeeper in a concise form. If there are any observations , positive or negative, then do let me know on my usual email dorchweybkaweb@gmail.com

For those who are about to become members and those who are returning I am putting the email from Mike here and also a link to the membership form.

Mike says:

Do you wish to renew your D&W BKA membership for the October 2024 - September 2025 period?

If so, please complete the attached Membership Renewal Form and return it to me, preferably by e-mail to mikeonmac2@mac.com - a scan or photo of the completed form will be fine. Otherwise by Royal Mail.

Payment can be made by BACS electronic transfer as per the form. If you do not use electronic banking then a cheque is fine.

If you pay UK tax perhaps you would also consider filling in the attached Gift Aid Declaration.

If you no longer wish to be a member we will of course be sorry to see you go, but if you send me either an e-mail or a letter I can remove you from the list and you will no longer receive e-mails from us.

Please be aware that D&W BKA will be producing a Members List for the 2024 - 2025 period giving the name, town or village, postcode and contact number of every member. This will be distributed to any member who requests it, in paper form only. We draw your attention to the Privacy statement on page 2 of the Membership Renewal Form and repeat here that you must advise us if you do not wish your details to be included in the Members List. 

Now is the time to renew - before we get hit by Christmas bills!