The Forum.

[Poly Hive]

For me this is a significant post. Though numbers as such I suppose matter not a hoot.

I would like the readership to ponder a minute what has been created here by Admin.

This forum is growing at a wonderfully steady rate even over the off season, which is testament to the validity of this community, and a community is what is occurring here.

I have hopes that through this forum some real AMM work can happen as on here we have established communications, something Mr Cushman strived for with BIBBA but to no avail. Communications are the strength of this forum, and look at the power of that wee ability in the middle east, by means of good comms dictators are being over thrown by the will and power of individuals.

There is a massive issue in the beekeeping UK: that of imports.

If we as a group can work together to produce sufficient over wintered nucs the demand for imports can be quenched. It is that simple.

There will always be them what hanker for foreign bees, as they are reputedly better, less swarmy less stingy better everything... uh huh....

If that better bee is produced in the UK then?

On that hopeful note I just want to say (again) to Admin many thanks for a very skilful hand on the helm.

Let's all work to make this forum the very best it can be.

PH

 

[Easy Beesy]

your 5000th post, and it's a corker - well said PH.

 

[Friar Tuck]

how about a petition to stop bee imports?

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/steps

 

[drstitson]

"by means of good comms dictators are being over thrown by the will and power of individuals."

whilst i agree with the sentiment I for one will NOT be having anything to do with calling for the downfall of o90o or finman in a popular uprising!!!!

 

[drstitson]

petitions are next to useless - treated as one piece of mail.

we should all write to our MPs.

 

[Friar Tuck]

petitions are next to useless - treated as one piece of mail.

we should all write to our MPs.

MPs are next to useless to did not see any expenses claims for bee hives

 

[drstitson]

i take it Norton won't be signing!!!!

 

[hedgerow pete]

top bloke award to poly hive and admin, and as ever , poly hives hit the nail on the head again spot on

 

[Skyhook]

I would like the readership to ponder a minute what has been created here by Admin. PH

I'm constantly wowed by what admin has created, and like all good things in life, I hope I never take it for granted.

There is a massive issue in the beekeeping UK: that of imports.

If we as a group can work together to produce sufficient over wintered nucs the demand for imports can be quenched. It is that simple. PH

I have a book from 1937 in which he suggest that you can make more selling nucs than honey. It seems that supply has still not matched demand over 70 years later.

petitions are next to useless - treated as one piece of mail.

we should all write to our MPs.

Agreed this is more effective- and individual letters, not printed from a circular.

 

[Mike a]

If we as a group can work together to produce sufficient over wintered nucs the demand for imports can be quenched.
PH

I'm sure most of would agree we need to do some thing, even if its a healthy majority can agree on a course of action it would be a step forward. I hear a lot of people quoting BIBBA are working on X or Y projects but that is all it is hear say. I've emailed several BIBBA members in 2009 and 2010 and had less than positive news in return, most of the time its I had an off season or no reply at all. One email even said BIBBA are not sharing their work with others..

If someone has access to stock which is worth breeding from then I would dearly like to pitch in but as always its a profit game and in reality it boils down to the almighty £. Either people want to do some thing or they want to get rich quick, I am happy to pay but in the end I've found its easier to continue with what I have or buy in from a supplier as much as I hate to do so.

So any suggestions how we could change this culture and work to improve things?

 

[Queens59]

I'm a beginner - and will be for years. I can sign a petition - I can say 'THANK-YOU Admin, this site has been a fantastic help'...which it has...but making and selling a nuc is a few years ahead...but agree totally with the sentiment. Send me the petition and I'll sign...and good luck...as well as well done PH - you have helped many, including me since I started...have a lollipop!

 

[tonybloke]

perhaps we ( the forum) should start a few regional breeding programmes?
'cos after all, local bees are best

 

[jameskilty]

Hi Mike a and Tonybloke
I am a BIBBA member and breed from the best of our local bees using several criteria (see my web pages). I founded the Cornwall Bee Improvement Group in 2002 working on the principle that we can find gems of colonies amongst a larger number of beekeepers and by working together over an area, improve the overall stock. It's been done before over the UK. What was new at the time was to identify stock doing something about varroa - following in the work of John Dews and Albert Knight in the UK and people like Wallner in ?Austria (his varroa kill factor). Rodger Dewhurst has taken his results to various conferences - he finds bees biting the beekeeper is a good sign.

I also am selling queens and nucs and for the first time advertising them more widely. Hitherto most have been nucs to members of Cornwall and of West Cornwall BKAs - a few to members of the Irish beekeeping List when I was an active member - it takes a lot of time reading posts and responding to them! So it is possible to work in many ways.

I did have an easier ride in that having started the basic beekeeping course down here and managing it for 9 years I knew personally a lot of beekeepers (many now active members of the Committee and contributing greatly locally) so it was easy to bring them into the project. Many are actively rearing queens and we are helping each other by swapping material and getting together to discuss how to do it better. I believe in working with the local gene pool, which down here would have been highly selected by the erratic weather patterns.

We can all do this - there are many groups round the country now.

James

 

[Friar Tuck]

As a forum we could all write individual letters Agree, but with a petition you can attract signatures from non beekeepers who still support your cause and would like to protect the British bee. Look at what Hugh fearnley whittingstall has achieved with various Facebook and national press campaigns. Hughs facebook ~ Hugh's Fish Fight has 209,623 people like this.. cant see all of them writing a letter but are happy to sign a petition .. 209,623 people must have more clout than a few letters...

IMO

 

[Haughton Honey]

"by means of good comms dictators are being over thrown by the will and power of individuals."

whilst i agree with the sentiment I for one will NOT be having anything to do with calling for the downfall of o90o or finman in a popular uprising!!!!

What about the BBKA?

Now that really is food for thought.

 

[BobH1]

Petition vs Letters?
Why not do both?

I have to say my MP has responded very comprehensively (if not very favourably) when I have written to him, for example, on pesticides. Now if more of his beekeeping constituents were to write to him, he might start sitting up, listening and changing his opinion.

"What about the BBKA?"
As I suggested before, the best way of influencing the BBKA is from the inside. Influence your local BKA to influence the national body.

 

[Rosti]

If someone has access to stock which is worth breeding from then I would dearly like to pitch in but as always its a profit game and in reality it boils down to the almighty £.

I agree with PHs post, I enjoy and learn from participating in this forum and I am also proud of the fact I have never supported imports / bought a bee, one of my set-up objectives was to work within the limits of the local strain. In practical terms I dont think that such a strain truly exisits though (based on the variety that turns up in my bait hives), why, because of all the imported queens run into 'assembled nucs'. I am not so worried about that, it is the pest disease risk that they bring with them that worries me more than their genetics.

Which brings me to my point and why I have quoted Mike A. One mans attractive trait is another mans poison so compromise is needed to make progress on a breeding program and it would be constantly re-diluted unless some form of restriction could be imposed on imports. Such a restriction requires an alternative supply of bees, which comes back to PHs comment on over wintered nucs, or does it?

That sounds fine and dandy but still becomes an impotent symbol without imposed restriction on the large bee keeping concerns. Think about Somerfords recent post - NZ bees and honey production near London and the Co-ops involvement, the same organisation that shot the save the honey bee film could be responsible for bringing in SHB that then contributes to it's downfall.

Political pressure and political awareness is the cornerstone of sucess I think, far more than any local breeding program. Perhaps a well crafted letter, sent by all of the 5k forum members (who agree) to local MPs etc is a starting point here..... And just like government attempts to make us use public transport instead of the car, without a viable alternative to imports such a scheme will fail. That requires big boy support and imposed import restriction. That takes us back to political awareness and momentum as a cornerstone, achieved by coordinated, structured and well reasoned pressure, not over wintered nucs I'm afraid.

 

[tonybloke]

Hi James Kilty.
there is no such programme in Norfolk ( that i know of)
and as I'm only a 3rd season beekeeper, queen rearing will be this years project.

I do know a few local beekeepers, and perhaps we could / should start something locally.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Start a revolution...a Queen rearing one,just rear from the best you already have,and don't import any...if you are one of those that are against it,Ged Marshall also has some good Buckfasts i believe.

 

[psafloyd]

Write to your MPs

petitions are next to useless - treated as one piece of mail.

we should all write to our MPs.

Yes, indeed, Dr Stitson and it is bloody easy, too.

You can follow what your MP has been up to at www.theyworkforyou.com

But the best one is www.writetothem.com. You can write to your MP whether you know who they are or not by entering your postcode, filling in a short form, sending and then confirming your email address by clicking a link sent to your email address.

We can agree the wording between us and it is a simple case of copy and paste.

Anyone who can't or won't do this wants shooting more than those foxes. This is so easy and better, as it is monitored, so cannot go missing in the post.