AVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION (incorporating Weston, Keynsham, North Somerset, Bristol and Bath) invites you to the Spring Study Day, Saturday 15th April 2023, 10:00-16:00, at The Hub, Flax Bourton.
OPENING UP: Better Beekeepers/Better Bees
The day is designed for both new and more experienced beekeepers. It will give you time to talk to other beekeepers and reflect on your own practice as well as listening to some key speakers. The aim is to have a stimulating day that will set you up for the year with some new practical ideas to increase your enjoyment and success as a beekeeper. The speakers are:
Ivor Davis : A life in beekeeping and what I’ve learnt. Looking at the opportunities provided by beekeeping both in the past, present and future together with some of the most important things he has learnt.
Jo Widdicombe : Bee Improvement - what it can mean for you, the beekeeper. .Jo will outline the key aims of bee improvement and how you can apply these in your apiary. No need to look far afield, he believes that the perfect bee is one you can raise by working locally.
Simple queen rearing for better bees. The effective but simple methods the beekeeper can use to improve their bees and breed queens from their own stock in a managed and straightforward way.
Anne Rowberry: Healthy Hives. What are the things you can do to ensure that your hives are in the best order to keep your bees healthy? The answers will be here with suggestions of how to maintain a healthy regime.
Rachel Monger of Bees Abroad: Working to improve women’s lives in Tanzania. Rachel will have just returned from a visit to Kome Island and she will be talking about the work she has been doing with women’s groups to improve their lives by using beekeeping as a way to create enterprising business opportunities connected to beekeeping.
A raffle with prizes including a hive donated by Abello Ltd, a feeder from Maisemore Apiaries and a £40 Thornes Voucher + other prizes
Hive Originals will also be attending with their wide range of hive products
Cost £5
Please bring cash on the day. There is no need to sign up beforehand. The day has been largely subsidized by ABKA in recognition of the hard work done by local beekeepers during the Covid crisis.
There will be light refreshments but you are asked to supply your own lunch
Beekeepers from Beekeeping Associations across the Southwest region are welcome
Ivor Davis
Ivor is a long-time member of Avon Beekeepers Association and much respected nationally as an educator and mentor. He was key in developing the BBKA’s ‘Course in a Case’ and the bestselling ‘The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping’ which has become a standard text for new beekeepers. He has been Vice Chairman of the International Bee Research Association and is a past president of the BBKA.
Rachel Monger
Rachel has been involved for many years in community development whilst living in Tanzania and has helped to establish beekeeping groups in rural villages in the Mwanza region especially working with women to create income-generating enterprises linked to beekeeping.
Anne Rowberry
A long-time member of ABKA and a Master Beekeeper Anne has supported the beekeepers locally and nationally and many local beekeepers will know her as a regular Basic Assessor. She has served as the chair of the BBKA and is its president this year and at the moment is leading a BBKA campaign working on ways to deal with fake or adulterated honey, much of which is imported and landing on supermarket shelves with the simple label of Honey.
Jo Widdicombe
A beekeeper for 40 years and a member of BIBBA for 30 years and having served in the past as it’s president. He’s a bee farmer in Cornwall and is author of the influential book ‘The Principles of Bee Improvement’ which offers a practical approach that is applicable to beekeepers in any circumstance. Rather than searching the world for the perfect bee he believes it can be found from your local bee population.
How to find us
For google map directions, click on directions link on https://flaxbourtonhub.org
Flax Bourton is just south of Bristol on the A370.
If travelling either from the north or south turn off the A370 onto the B3130 to Nailsea. At the first roundabout turn left into Old Weston Road. The Hub is 300 yards from this turn. The post code is BS48 1UR, but this does not take you to the car park with google maps – use the link above.
OPENING UP: Better Beekeepers/Better Bees
The day is designed for both new and more experienced beekeepers. It will give you time to talk to other beekeepers and reflect on your own practice as well as listening to some key speakers. The aim is to have a stimulating day that will set you up for the year with some new practical ideas to increase your enjoyment and success as a beekeeper. The speakers are:
Ivor Davis : A life in beekeeping and what I’ve learnt. Looking at the opportunities provided by beekeeping both in the past, present and future together with some of the most important things he has learnt.
Jo Widdicombe : Bee Improvement - what it can mean for you, the beekeeper. .Jo will outline the key aims of bee improvement and how you can apply these in your apiary. No need to look far afield, he believes that the perfect bee is one you can raise by working locally.
Simple queen rearing for better bees. The effective but simple methods the beekeeper can use to improve their bees and breed queens from their own stock in a managed and straightforward way.
Anne Rowberry: Healthy Hives. What are the things you can do to ensure that your hives are in the best order to keep your bees healthy? The answers will be here with suggestions of how to maintain a healthy regime.
Rachel Monger of Bees Abroad: Working to improve women’s lives in Tanzania. Rachel will have just returned from a visit to Kome Island and she will be talking about the work she has been doing with women’s groups to improve their lives by using beekeeping as a way to create enterprising business opportunities connected to beekeeping.
A raffle with prizes including a hive donated by Abello Ltd, a feeder from Maisemore Apiaries and a £40 Thornes Voucher + other prizes
Hive Originals will also be attending with their wide range of hive products
Cost £5
Please bring cash on the day. There is no need to sign up beforehand. The day has been largely subsidized by ABKA in recognition of the hard work done by local beekeepers during the Covid crisis.
There will be light refreshments but you are asked to supply your own lunch
Beekeepers from Beekeeping Associations across the Southwest region are welcome
Ivor Davis
Ivor is a long-time member of Avon Beekeepers Association and much respected nationally as an educator and mentor. He was key in developing the BBKA’s ‘Course in a Case’ and the bestselling ‘The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping’ which has become a standard text for new beekeepers. He has been Vice Chairman of the International Bee Research Association and is a past president of the BBKA.
Rachel Monger
Rachel has been involved for many years in community development whilst living in Tanzania and has helped to establish beekeeping groups in rural villages in the Mwanza region especially working with women to create income-generating enterprises linked to beekeeping.
Anne Rowberry
A long-time member of ABKA and a Master Beekeeper Anne has supported the beekeepers locally and nationally and many local beekeepers will know her as a regular Basic Assessor. She has served as the chair of the BBKA and is its president this year and at the moment is leading a BBKA campaign working on ways to deal with fake or adulterated honey, much of which is imported and landing on supermarket shelves with the simple label of Honey.
Jo Widdicombe
A beekeeper for 40 years and a member of BIBBA for 30 years and having served in the past as it’s president. He’s a bee farmer in Cornwall and is author of the influential book ‘The Principles of Bee Improvement’ which offers a practical approach that is applicable to beekeepers in any circumstance. Rather than searching the world for the perfect bee he believes it can be found from your local bee population.
How to find us
For google map directions, click on directions link on https://flaxbourtonhub.org
Flax Bourton is just south of Bristol on the A370.
If travelling either from the north or south turn off the A370 onto the B3130 to Nailsea. At the first roundabout turn left into Old Weston Road. The Hub is 300 yards from this turn. The post code is BS48 1UR, but this does not take you to the car park with google maps – use the link above.