Annual UK Hive Count

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just a heads up

Dear Beekeepers

Most of you will have been aware of the pilot hive count exercise conducted by DEFRA earlier this year. There was a promise to stakeholders, such as the WBKA and BBKA to have an opportunity to discuss the pilot exercise at a Bee Heath Advisory Forum (BHAF) meeting before the method was used to conduct a full UK Hive Count for the EU. The summer meeting of the BHAF was cancelled due to the EU Referendum and to date no report on the pilot hive count exercise has been received.

Last week the Welsh Government was asked by DEFRA to comment on documents that are due to be sent to all known beekeepers in the UK during this coming week. They will be requesting that beekeepers update their hive count on Bee Base before the 31st December 2016 in order to supply the EU Apicultural Fund with the number of hives in the UK on November 1st 2016. The Welsh Government forwarded the documents to the WBKA for our comments last Wednesday.

We have protested at the lack of consultation and, supported by the Welsh Government, we have asked that the UK Hive Count is on the agenda of the next BHAF meeting in London on December 8th. The Welsh Government are also represented on BHAF.

Meanwhile it appears that requests for the information about how many hives you had in each of your apiaries on November 1st 2016 will go out this week as planned. We would urge you and your members to comply by providing the numbers requested. We would be grateful if WBKA Associations would gather together any feed back from their members and forward to Ian Hubbuck. It is our understanding that the UK Hive Count will be an annual autumn census, at least for the time that the UK remains part of the EU. Through BHAF and by direct consultation with the Welsh Government the WBKA can strive to represent your views of how the number of hives in Wales is gathered.

Best wishes

Jenny

Jenny Shaw
Cadeirydd / Chair
Cymdeithas Gwenynwyr Cymru /Welsh Beekeepers' Association

 

[For want of a better word]

Do "they" mean hives... or viable honey producing colonies of honeybees???

Nos da

 

[Hivemaker.]

Do "they" mean hives... or viable honey producing colonies of honeybees???

Anything, everything, mini nucs, the more the merrier, doesn't matter to them as long as they get the money, seems to be pretty much fixed every year on 1946 numbers anyway.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Starting to wonder if there's an empire building exercise for DEFRA in here somewhere? Maybe I'm becoming cynical?

 

[yeogi75]

well someone has to hold the reins maybe tony blair

 

[Erichalfbee]

I could add the number of my olive trees to the tally. Do you think google earth might spot the difference?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Do "they" mean hives... or viable honey producing colonies of honeybees???

Nos da

colonies (whether viable or not I suppose) it would be better if they just said boxes of bees - or maybe even containers of bees to satisfy the more advanced nitpicking pedants

 

[bpmurray]

Starting to wonder if there's an empire building exercise for DEFRA in here somewhere? Maybe I'm becoming cynical?

No, it's not - we have it in Ireland too. The EU has a big bag of cash they will share with member states' bee organizations, apportioned according to the number of hives. Some of the EU countries are very good at squeezing all they can from this, but Ireland has been bad in the past - if only the numbers were really based on 1946, we'd do much better. So, at least until Brexit kicks in, it's definitely worth registering your boxes of bees, big and small.

There was some concern here that this was some kind of plot (no, I've no idea what kind of plot) so all the bee census returns are being collated by a third party company to ensure anonymity.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

No, it's not - we have it in Ireland too. The EU has a big bag of cash they will share with member states' bee organizations, apportioned according to the number of hives. Some of the EU countries are very good at squeezing all they can from this, but Ireland has been bad in the past - if only the numbers were really based on 1946, we'd do much better. So, at least until Brexit kicks in, it's definitely worth registering your boxes of bees, big and small.

There was some concern here that this was some kind of plot (no, I've no idea what kind of plot) so all the bee census returns are being collated by a third party company to ensure anonymity.

Atos Healthcare are a third party company. I'll say no more

 

[yeogi75]

its alright having a third party collating the information but what are they going to do with all that information, possibly sell it on like all other company's do a good source of revenue .

 

[Hivemaker.]

So, at least until Brexit kicks in, it's definitely worth registering your boxes of bees, big and small.

Do beekeepers in Ireland get direct financial help from the EU fund, discounted treatments, hives, payment towards restocking, etc?

 

[Karsal]

They'll use it to snoop on you to see if you have purchased prescribed treatments for your honey bees. DEFRA will cross check sales against the VMD register. MAYBEE?

 

[domino]

They'll use it to snoop on you to see if you have purchased prescribed treatments for your honey bees. DEFRA will cross check sales against the VMD register. MAYBEE?

Unlikely given the finite resources they have.

 

[stenyacki]

There was some concern here that this was some kind of plot (no, I've no idea what kind of plot) so all the bee census returns are being collated by a third party company to ensure anonymity.

Have to disagree.

There is no possible guarantee of anonymity while census forms have what appears to be a unique reference number.

There may be a promise of confidentiality, but that's a different thing and people are very wise to be wary of such promises. We've seen how health services, banks, etc etc are incapable of securely holding peoples details.

Less EU please, not more.

 

[dpearce4]

Just means Defra has the number of hives you have for when you have to register them after we Brexit so they can then charge you a rate per hive to cover your licence.

Mind you every time you get a visit from SBI they go away with an accurate number of hives you have and then shove it on beebase even if you don't think your registered on it. so all the information is there.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Mind you every time you get a visit from SBI they go away with an accurate number of hives you have

Do they really.

 

[Finman]

Just means Defra has the number of hives you have for when you have to register them after we Brexit so they can then charge you a rate per hive to cover your licence.

Mind you every time you get a visit from SBI they go away with an accurate number of hives you have .

What?

Why?

Accurate number? What heck they do with hobby beekeepers accurate number???..

Hobby hive licence?.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Just means Defra has the number of hives you have for when you have to register them after we Brexit so they can then charge you a rate per hive to cover your licence.

Mind you every time you get a visit from SBI they go away with an accurate number of hives you have and then shove it on beebase even if you don't think your registered on it. so all the information is there.

The problem is they dont take anyone off, we allowed beginners to use apairy for their first Nuc, our old SBI used to register all the beginner, one apiary has 39 names of beekepers against it.....how many use it now ONE and that's me as trainer, another has 34...and now three beekeepers share it

 

[Finman]

Do beekeepers in Ireland get direct financial help from the EU fund, discounted treatments, hives, payment towards restocking, etc?

Beekeepers in Finland, who has over 15 hives, get 15€/hive state support. Its value equal 3 kg honey. EU gives some support to Finnish beekeeping society.

No one come to drag you from home if you do not register your hives.

Prison is as expencive as 3 star hotel. No danger that you will go into prison for your bees.

And no one will hunt oxalic acid users.
.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Beekeepers in Finland, who has over 15 hives, get 15€/hive state support.

That is really good...we get nothing.