The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Bees & Beekeeping => Topic started by: Rosemary on April 30, 2014, 01:33:25 pm
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The Welsh Bee Keepers Association (WBKA) is the national body to which the nineteen local Associations within Wales are affiliated. You could, perhaps, see us as a honey bee, the head being the voice of beekeeping in Wales, the thorax being the hub of information and the abdomen the catalyst for action.
As the National representative we are always looking to promote the cause of bee keeping and continually strive to develop initiatives to keep the general public informed of our efforts.
It seems that most days we hear a new tale of woe concerning the poor honeybee. We hear of mite attacks, diseases and colony collapse, but local beekeepers are helping the bees fight back. Through the management of bee colonies, treatment of disease and maintenance of the beehives, colony numbers are steadily increasing.
A new problem facing the beekeepers is finding suitable sites for the growing number of hives, and this is where you can help. The clever beekeepers of Wales have created a handy little widget for their website called 'Hive Locator'
In a nutshell it's a way to bring together members of the public or organisations, who may have a spare plot of land that they would be happy to site a beehive on, with a local beekeeper looking for such a site.
Originally conceived for use by the people of Wales, the site now covers the whole of the UK and is already seeing some positive results with plots being listed and taken up at an increasing rate.
The scheme offers an all round win-win situation, benefiting gardeners and allotment owners along with commercial crop growers, who will all get better pollination of their plants, and when you consider that honeybees pollinate one third of all the food we eat, that's important to us all.
We mustn't forget the stars in this pollination magic act: The Honeybees themselves. They've been around for millions of years, quietly going about their work, they may even have been the single most important creature during the development of life on earth, without them there would have been much less food. So don't let them down now, please join the campaign and let your local beekeeper know about your spare bit of land.
So why am I contacting you?
We are looking to promote the Locator through organisations who have a local presence and an interest in the environment. We would be most appreciative of any efforts in helping us spread the word about our Hive Locator.
For more information on the Hive Locator or future developments, still in the pipeline from the WBKA visit www.wbka.com (http://www.wbka.com), you'll find a wealth of information and links to beekeeping associations in your part of Wales and further afield.
Best wishes,
Grant Williams.
Webmaster WBKA,
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That's a great way to encourage people into beekeeping as well as giving established keepers more locations. :thumbsup:
Is there anything similar for the rest of the UK?
EDIT
To answer my own question: I went to the inappropriately named British Beekeeping Association only to find they are actually only for England. I didn't check if they had anything other than a list of local associations. The Scottish association doesn't have anything similar on their website.
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That's a great way to encourage people into beekeeping as well as giving established keepers more locations. :thumbsup:
Is there anything similar for the rest of the UK?
EDIT
To answer my own question: I went to the inappropriately named British Beekeeping Association only to find they are actually only for England. I didn't check if they had anything other than a list of local associations. The Scottish association doesn't have anything similar on their website.
Originally conceived for use by the people of Wales, the site now covers the whole of the UK and is already seeing some positive results with plots being listed and taken up at an increasing rate.
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Ah, I only scanned their site because I saw mention of Wales locations only. I'll go and read it properly. Ta.
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On another thread I have said that I am arranging through my local bee keepers association to place some hives on my land. Someone suggested I have some form of simple contract which I think is a good idea. I cannot see anything on the Hive Locator website, if you have contact details for Grant Williams from the WBKA could you let me have it so I can ask.
Thanks
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I am in West Wales and looking for a swarm to populate my hive. (plus i am new here so if i am in the wrong place just tell me)
Regards
Dan