Lets be a beekeeper in england. what the yanks think.

[dpearce4]

http://www.beeculture.com/lets-be-a-beekeeper-in-england/

 

[Poly Hive]

I am cringing.

PH

 

[ladaok]

i am cringing. Ph

Why.

 

[Dodge]

Why.

I was wondering too. The artical does make us sound like a load of boring stiff exam junkies who all seem to members of the national association because that is what we are told we must do. Sounds rather boring and authoritarian.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I was wondering too. The artical does make us sound like a load of boring stiff exam junkies who all seem to members of the national association because that is what we are told we must do. Sounds rather boring and authoritarian.

They've got it spot on then.
Apart, the maybe, the bit about keeping abreast with new scientific findings.

 

[Poly Hive]

That's about it yup. Bless the BBKA and all who sail in it.

PH

 

[mickbees23]

I can't disagree with you all more, here in Cleveland we have a very strong group of beekeepers ( TeesBees ) or CBKA. We hold many such meetings in a friendly and very pleasant atmosphere. We have talks from various body's in the beekeeping world ranging from the BBKA, NBU, honey show judges, bee inspectors or just Joe Bloggs explaining how to clean a hive or make candles.
We have a healthy module exam group which had some excellent results from March modules and the exchange of information at these meetings is amazing and we have all learned so much from each other. In February we had a full day improvers course which was attended by Margret Wilson the BBKA Chair and our honey show is held in July and is very well supported. We have exhibited in all of our regions various honey shows and the national honey show winning numerous awards, blue ribbons and best in show awards. We also attend numerous local community events promoting pollinators, bees and bee produce as well as educational visit to local schools.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea but we love it and our beginners course is heavily oversubscribed every year now.

Why knock it..?

Cheers, Mick.

 

[mike99]

I can't disagree with you all more, here in Cleveland we have a very strong group of beekeepers ( TeesBees ) or CBKA. We hold many such meetings in a friendly and very pleasant atmosphere. We have talks from various body's in the beekeeping world ranging from the BBKA, NBU, honey show judges, bee inspectors or just Joe Bloggs explaining how to clean a hive or make candles.
We have a healthy module exam group which had some excellent results from March modules and the exchange of information at these meetings is amazing and we have all learned so much from each other. In February we had a full day improvers course which was attended by Margret Wilson the BBKA Chair and our honey show is held in July and is very well supported. We have exhibited in all of our regions various honey shows and the national honey show winning numerous awards, blue ribbons and best in show awards. We also attend numerous local community events promoting pollinators, bees and bee produce as well as educational visit to local schools.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea but we love it and our beginners course is heavily oversubscribed every year now.

Why knock it..?

Cheers, Mick.

Hear, Hear!

 

[Popparand]

This has to be one of the most superficial and useless articles ever blogged. She's obvously done some browsing but has totally failed to understand how beekeeping is conducted in the UK.

The BBKA takes a lot of hammering on this site, but it runs on pitifully poor resources so you can't expect it to work miracles.

bk-ing in the UK is primarily an amateur occupation. Even so these "back-yard yokels" produce tons of saleable honey every year, and without them the honey bee would probably become extinct in the UK. If, as seems to be generally accepted, the honey bee is an ecologically valuable species, our bk community deserves a little more respect than this article offers.

The simple fact of the matter is that bee keeping only exists in the UK because of the dedication and enthusiasm of a small army of volunteers who give up substantial amounts of time promoting bee keeping - and that includes charity trustees, association committee members, training, education, running shows and meetings, promoting bk-ing, and so on. Respect, please.

Maybe 40% of colonies were lost over the winter across the UK. How would these colonies be replaced if it wasn't for the amateur beeks? Our USA cousins are poorly placed to look down on the UK, what with chronic colony collapse, etc.

Granted, the BBKA and other groups tend to be too inwards-looking. But if you want the BBKA to be more effective in its PR and lobbying then it needs the support and encouragement of the beek community, not cynical slagging off.

 

[Beagle23]

I can only speak for myself, but I'm a shoot from the hip kind of beekeeper and my bees are my Wildbunch Outlaws. We follow no rules, actively embrace frowned-upon techniques and seek only the demise of the BBKA authoritarian tyranny through successful and disrespectful amateurishness.

Yeeeeeeha

 

[Bakerbee]

 

[thorn]

She started well, but got sidetracked by the BBKA. Yes, it exists, it produces a magazine and runs exam courses, and most of us, through our local societies are members, but really, it’s not a major factor to most of of us in our beekeeping. It’s too political, and run by people with hobby horses (like most of us on this forum, but none of us are considered the voice of all beekeepers,though some have ambitions that way).

 

[birdsandbees]

She started well, but got sidetracked by the BBKA. Yes, it exists, it produces a magazine and runs exam courses, and most of us, through our local societies are members, but really, it’s not a major factor to most of of us in our beekeeping. It’s too political, and run by people with hobby horses (like most of us on this forum, but none of us are considered the voice of all beekeepers,though some have ambitions that way).

I agree with a lot of this, I am open to helping out our local association and attend the occasionally poorly attended monthly meetings but its definitely very cliquey and political, I drift along doing my own thing with reasonable success and have never needed to rely on them.

 

[mickbees23]

I can only speak for myself, but I'm a shoot from the hip kind of beekeeper and my bees are my Wildbunch Outlaws. We follow no rules, actively embrace frowned-upon techniques and seek only the demise of the BBKA authoritarian tyranny through successful and disrespectful amateurishness.

Yeeeeeeha

Ha..!

I do love your attitude, I think we all need a little bit of this in our beekeeping for some balance.

Cheers, Mick.

 

[Fusion_power]

A Brit with an attitude? This will never do! We'll have to send the inspector out to check for illegal knives and other weapons of violence. There is no way we can allow such attitudes to continue without challenge.

 

[user 6228]

The bbka and the UK bee establishment has made progress. 5 years ago polystyrene hives were heresy now they are at least considered by some of them.
However there is still a long way to go. I am still running into the hardened attitude in the uk bee establishment, that bees are biology and that there is nothing much to learn from engineering and physics.
In contrast both grass roots beekeepers and engineers see the connection.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

The bbka and the UK bee establishment has made progress. 5 years ago polystyrene hives were heresy now they are at least considered by some of them.
However there is still a long way to go. I am still running into the hardened attitude in the uk bee establishment, that bees are biology and that there is nothing much to learn from engineering and physics.
In contrast both grass roots beekeepers and engineers see the connection.

It's applied science innit?

 

[madasafish]

The bbka and the UK bee establishment has made progress. 5 years ago polystyrene hives were heresy now they are at least considered by some of them.
However there is still a long way to go. I am still running into the hardened attitude in the uk bee establishment, that bees are biology and that there is nothing much to learn from engineering and physics.
In contrast both grass roots beekeepers and engineers see the connection.

That's because there are few people with those skills left in the general population .. and in reality it takes an enquiring mind to apply them to bees. Given that most experienced hobby beekeepers learn how to do things by following what others do - and tend to repeat the same things year after year - the hobby does not encourage original thinking and a scientific approach - i.e measure things before and after a change.

Not helped by our weather which makes analysing the effect of any changes rather difficult !

Thing that struck me about beekeeping when I took it up was it's almost total lack of numeracy. People who keep records of numbers - except pounds of honey - are the exception. Hive weights, dates of first flowering of local key crops, queen rearing success rates, stings per hive, frames of brood in spring etc are all quantifiable measurements notable by their exclusion from almost all books, record keeping and thinking.. and yet for any beekeepers they are useful measures..

If you don't measure it , you cannot control it.

 

[enrico]

I thought it was a well set out piece that showed UK beekeeping in a good light. She seemed enthusiastic about British beekeeping to me!
E

 

[roche]

That's because there are few people with those skills left in the general population .. and in reality it takes an enquiring mind to apply them to bees. Given that most experienced hobby beekeepers learn how to do things by following what others do - and tend to repeat the same things year after year - the hobby does not encourage original thinking and a scientific approach - i.e measure things before and after a change.

Not helped by our weather which makes analysing the effect of any changes rather difficult !

Thing that struck me about beekeeping when I took it up was it's almost total lack of numeracy. People who keep records of numbers - except pounds of honey - are the exception. Hive weights, dates of first flowering of local key crops, queen rearing success rates, stings per hive, frames of brood in spring etc are all quantifiable measurements notable by their exclusion from almost all books, record keeping and thinking.. and yet for any beekeepers they are useful measures..

If you don't measure it , you cannot control it.

That sounds like control freakery creeping out. You should be sentenced to whipping with match-sticks!