**** SWARMS **** – For list of collectors and advice, click here.
Members – Please note:
– Zoom BeeChat meetings 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm. Joining details in Members’ Area.

Resources
Early Season:
– The Annual Cycle
– The First Spring Inspection
– Collecting and Hiving a Swarm
– Identifying Queen cells
– Queen rearing.
– Marking Queens
General:
– Bees, Wasps and Buzzy things
– Forage and Pollen Guide
– The Sting
– Reading your bees.
– Bee Craft Glossary (link)
– Guidelines for selling a nucleus .
– Using nuclei
– Uniting colonies.
– Re-queening a defensive colony
– Feeders and Feed
Disease and controls:
– Common bee viruses (Link)
– Foulbrood.
– Varroa
– Counting varroa.
– Sugar dusting.
– Shook swarm
– Nosema
Honey and Hive Products:
– Processing Honey
– Showing/selling Honey
– Labelling Honey
– Granulated Honey
– Soft set honey
– Processing Wax
– Candle making
Education

Courses and Assessments – 2026
For a full list of assessments please click here.

Basic Assessment
Have you been keeping bees for a year? Have you taken your basic assessment? For details and support, click here.

Resources for teachers
Click here for the exciting teachers’ pack, BBKA’s Pollinator Science Project.

Asian Hornets (YLAH)

The PRIORITY NOW is to be ready to set up bait stations in August and September, so as to report sightings and assist NBU teams to eradicate nests.
Click here to read reports from National BBKA Forums.
Links to resources:
– Current NBU Overview,
– Latest sightings,
– Update Video (09/2025)
– YLAH Fact Sheet
– Life Cycle

Members’ News

Wow!

Richard Skinner’s exemplary brood

Spring Convention
Click here for Louise’s report from Harper Adams containing many interesting ideas and expert observations on current issues.

Queen Piping

Click image to see and hear Richard Skinner’s remarkable video of a Queen Piping. Recorded April, 2026, extraordinary!

Apiary Meetings 2026
West End Apiary meeting, 10th May, 2025

Members – please join the relevant WhatsApp group to receive details about our apiary meetings in West End and Wickham.