is bbka membership worth £25

[Russel]

Another option may be to join a local UK BKA of your choice and you should/may get the BBKA & local news letter, the use of the forum and visitor benefits should you wish to pay them a visit, assuming there's one that will take you
Some of use are members of other local bka's.
Of the subs £14/15 is to the BBKA, £2 BDI & the remainder to the local BKA.
As our assoc subs are currently £21pa we get £5 per member to provide talks, training etc etc!

 

[johnandyrob]

The only thing it is worth joining for is the public liability insurance. A local association near me tried to join the S.B.K.A but they wouldn't have an English association.

 

[peteinwilts]

i asked this very question a few months back and am still nursing the shrapnel wounds

insurance was the biggest argument.

I do not really care for meetings, talks and other social type activities.
I think the membership of my 'local' association (still 25 miles away!) is due.

I will probably join this month... but only for the insurance.

 

[For want of a better word]

sorry perhaps going away from OP...........

insurance ?​

I know that it would not be applicable in Eire, and I wonder if it is applicable in UK.... anyone on this wonderful forum have knowledge of BBKA insurance scheme ever being used... or even paying out?... is that worth £25 +++++++

How far would your general household policy cover for hive theft or third party damages?

 

[Poly Hive]

Insurance is still the issue and there is still work going on to find some at a decent rate.

PH

 

[psafloyd]

I am a member of my local association and get all the guff in the post and the insurance and the website and forum access etc...

To me the £25 is well spent for membership of local association, the local contacts, knowledge, friendship and someone to help when you cannot find the Queen!

The rest of it is very secondary. I occasionally read the articles in the magazines and have checked out the forum.
It's a poor second to this one which is usually first point of call if I get a problem.

I would say £25 better spent elsewhere for you.

I would ask first and foremost whether you can secure £5m of liability for cover for £25, including the broking of it. If you can, well done. I can't do it easily, so am satisfied with the economy of scale I get from being a member.

Then there's the benefits you get from the division itself, which I have found invaluable a times, but it's like anything; you tend to get what you put in.

 

[psafloyd]

an beachara can be quite hard to read at times .


susbees i doubt i will be at the Spring convention. i should be at gormanstown this year again tho.

is there discounts for the convention and other activities built into membership?

Newportbuzz, I will have to come down and see you some time next year when I am over.

 

[rockdoc]

I would concur with 'billygoat', the web site is poor compared to this one. I have to admit though that my mac does not like the BBBKA web site. Maybe I have a morally conscious computer!
However, I would recommend joining if only to get the insurance. I know very few have claimed but its worth having, if only to show the farmer/council you are covered if you need to place your hives on someone elses land. Not sure if anyone has looked into getting cover independent of the BBKA!

 

[bobster]

The only reason I would join is for the insurance. I'm about to put some hives out on a local farm next year and I think it would be prudent for the £30 odd pounds a year.

I tried to get insurance independently but failed.

Unless of course the Ts and Cs in the BBKA insurance don't cover for being further than 100m away form the owners house!

Bobster

 

[Nic Rhodes]

newsletter has improved but non too dynamic and with errors still. Forum is a ghost town but as others have said other advantages but for UK.

 

[For want of a better word]

The only reason I would join is for the insurance. I'm about to put some hives out on a local farm next year and I think it would be prudent for the £30 odd pounds a year.

I tried to get insurance independently but failed.

Unless of course the Ts and Cs in the BBKA insurance don't cover for being further than 100m away form the owners house!

Bobster

Let us know if you have to make a claim................ from my own reading of the wriggle-out clauses of the BBKA insurance, you probably are NOT covered, Usual probability of 51% of successfully defending a court case in a third party liability would leave you wide open to covering your own court costs let alone compensation.
The notifiable diseases insurance pay out barely covers the cost of replacing bees frames hives etc and does NOT cover the cost of lost revenue from future sales.
If I am wrong and writing total crap and have the evidence to back your argument, please say so..... there are always at least two sides to any argument, and in beekeeping usually at least three!
This forum allows gentlemanly discussion in a civilized way...........
and, thankfully without the indoctrinated lemonfacedness seen at some "association" meets!!!!
IN MY OPINION of course!!

 

[newportbuzz]

Newportbuzz, I will have to come down and see you some time next year when I am over.

kettles on! pm for contact details if you are coming over. tis always good to talk bees!


everyone else thanks for the opinions it looks like the £25 would be better spent elsewhere . ive been eyeing up a few books anyway.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I was under the impression that the forum had succumbed to "FCD" (forum collapse disorder).......
Do I need to mutter darkly about giving £25 all to the greater glory of "Pestco. Inc" as well? - total waste of money!

1) Yes, you're correct; the forum is currently suffering from FCD.
2) No your'e wrong. They have stopped the endorsement stuff but reserve the right in the future to consider it, I understand.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If they have a forum I am amazed as poor Dave Cushman was trying for years to push them into getting on line savvy.

Would I again spend money on the BBKA?

I would have to be seriously convinced it has changed it's spots.

Any BBKA members willing to say why it's of any value?

PH

I suspect most members of the BBKA are members because of their membership of the local association, with insurance a bonus

(Although in this world we seem to need insurance because the law is on the side of anyone that wants to claim for anything whatsoever. Whether justified or not.
Here's a good example of a claim. A girl arrived uninvited to a party, got pissed and dived into a private family swimming pool and bashed her head. She then claimed against the owner because he hadn't put a sign around the pool stating depth of water).

Such is 21st Century Britain.

 

[Gardenbees]

Three things that are worth it as far as I'm concerned:
A good local BKA (which, in my case, effectively means BBKA membership);
This Forum (no subscription needed, but I'm actually quite happy to donate);
BeeBase, esp. if you have a good local Bee Inspector.

Insurance is a comforting idea, but I haven't yet heard of anyone who has used it and/or tested the limits of cover, so I'm neutral on that one.

Three things that aren't worth it:
BBKA forum;
BBKA magazine - a mixed bag at best;
£28 cake stand from the BBKA online shop (although I do think the new website is more or less an improvement!)

Ergo, if you don't have the advantage of a linked local group, I personally wouldn't bother unless I thought I was highly likely to need insurance and couldn't find an alternative.

 

[bobster]

Let us know if you have to make a claim................ from my own reading of the wriggle-out clauses of the BBKA insurance, you probably are NOT covered

Don't worry, I will, I'll try and get a hold of the insurance policy _before_ I sign up and see what I think.

I guess the question to ask on this forum is has anyone ever made a claim or had a claim made against them, and if so what was the outcome?

Bobster

 

[Brosville]

"They have stopped the endorsement stuff but reserve the right in the future to consider it, I understand" - herrumph! that's what they want you to think!....
In fact, at the same time as they were loudly trumpeting that they had ceased the endorsement deals with Bayer etc, they were getting into bed with the CPA (a polite euphemism for the pesticide companies' trade body), and the BBKA's public affairs director has since been publicly schmoozing for Bayer (there's a link to video proof of that knocking around the forum somewhere)
SO, don't be fooled, the "old guard" are still in charge, there's been no apologies, no resignations, no instigation of true democracy following the utterly shameful "pesticide sponsorship" fiasco - just "business as usual" with their buddies in the pesticide industry (which to my mind is a very good reason for the proverbial ten-foot bargepole when dealing with the BBKA!)

 

[For want of a better word]

Don't worry, I will, I'll try and get a hold of the insurance policy _before_ I sign up and see what I think.

I guess the question to ask on this forum is has anyone ever made a claim or had a claim made against them, and if so what was the outcome?

Bobster

Subject of A New Post for you Bobster?....................... dare ya!

 

[eric]

Just how much subs are taken in admin fees to bbka ie how much is left
or ie how much is left for the brown envelopes for the bbka commite

 

[Russel]

Just how much subs are taken in admin fees to bbka ie how much is left
or ie how much is left for the brown envelopes for the bbka commite

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