Britain’s backyard
beekeepers are to be helped to avoid the problem of winter bee
deaths by 400 Government-backed volunteer teachers.
Soaring numbers of people are taking up the hobby amid concern
over honey bee decline. But due to challenges from pests and
diseases, inexperiencedbeekeepers are losing more colonies
over winter, so better skills are needed.
400 experts across England and Wales are to be trained to teach
beekeepers good husbandry as part of a new project under the
Government’s Healthy Bees Plan. It will be run in partnership by
the British Beekeeping Association (BBKA) and National Diploma of
Beekeeping Board (NDBB), and jointly funded by Defra.
The partnership’s new “Course in a Case”, full of training
materials, will be delivered through local beekeeping
associations. Beekeepers will be trained in groups by the new
teachers alongside government bee inspectors, who already offer
advice to beekeepers on pests and diseases.
Environment Minister Lord Henley said:
“Bees are essential to putting food on our table and worth £200m
to Britain every year through pollinating our crops. This training
will help the many new beekeepers keep their hives healthy and
bees buzzing.”
BBKA President Martin Smith said:
“We are delighted to be joining forces with the Government to
improve the education of the dramatically increasing numbers of
new beekeepers.
"We look forward to working with the National Bee Unit
to ensure that the band of new trainers have the high quality
teaching materials they need to be a viable support to our local
associations whose teaching and mentoring resources have become
strained to breaking point.”
The National Bee Unit (NBU), where Government inspectors are
based, has found that in 2008/9 14 per cent of colonies died over
winter and in 2009/10 16 per cent died.
The NBU has issued top tips on often-overlooked key autumn jobs.
These include checking hives for disease, treating mites and
leaving enough honey for food during the cold months.
Head of the NBU, Mike Brown, said:
“More and more people are starting beekeeping, which is brilliant
– it is a release from the pressures of modern life and helps the
environment. But it should not be taken lightly, and it’s best to
find a mentor with practical experience as well as getting advice
from us.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Healthy Bees Plan was developed by Defra and the Welsh
Assembly Government with beekeeping stakeholders and aims to
protect and improve the health of honey bees over the next ten
years. It is being implemented by the Food and Environment
Research Agency (Fera) in partnership with beekeeping
associations. A key priority of the Plan, as agreed by the Plan’s
Project Management Board which is chaired by Fera and oversees
implementation, is to improve beekeepers’ skills in caring for,
and managing their bees (ie, their husbandry skills) through
education and training.
2.
3. Defra’s contract on a cost-sharing basis with the British
Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) working alongside the National
Diploma in Beekeeping Board (NDBB), is to:
· deliver training materials and trainers accessible,
user-relevant training courses and materials covering bee
husbandry and disease recognition and control;
· deliver quality trainers to deliver training to beekeepers at
various levels of proficiency using the new materials from 2011;
and
· develop and deliver in depth topic specific training courses
for beekeeper trainers to ensure that trainers are more than one
step ahead of their students (this work will be done by National
Diploma in Beekeeping).
4. Total project costs are £310,000 including Defra’s contract of
£191,440 (plus VAT) up to the end of March 2011, £90,000 from the
BBKA and £30,000 from the NDBB.
5. The aim is for 400 part-time volunteer trainers to be trained
in skills to deliver courses to beekeepers across the BBKA’s 160
local beekeeping associations and to other local associations.
6. The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Food and Environment
Research Agency, will be working with the BBKA and the NDBB on
preparing the new materials and training the trainers. It delivers
the Government’s bee health programme which also includes a
comprehensive training and advice service for beekeepers. A recent
social science study said "The NBU is seen is an
important source of very beneficial ongoing training.’’ More
information about the NBU can be found on the ‘BeeBase’ website www.nationalbeeunit.com.
7. Leeds beekeeper, Bill Cadmore has been appointed by the BBKA
as their national organiser for this education project. His role
will be to develop and organise events for training beekeeping
tutors, using a variety of resources, including the BBKA Course in
a Case, a six-levelcompetency model resource, material
produced by Fera, the NDB and the use of education professionals.
Mr Cadmore is an active beekeeper, is active in education in his
local beekeeping groups and has over 30 years of secondary
teaching experience and as a Vocational Training assessor. For
more information contact the British Beekeepers’ Association www.britishbee.org.uk
8. The Course in the Case concept was devised by the BBKA
following an Education and Training Forum held in October 2009.
The first Beginners Case was produced and funded by the BBKA; the
Case for Novices and the theory and practical cases for
Intermediate beekeepers are being part-funded by this project.
9. A recent study into how Government can engage better with
beekeepers found there were twice as many men involved than women,
with two thirds aged over 50. Most kept bees as a hobby, and
newcomers were twice as likely to be motivated by concern over
declining numbers. The study concluded that better husbandry
training and advice would greatly improve success.
BEEKEPING TOP TIPS
· Over winter honey bees need plenty of food and safe, healthy
conditions. In summer they gather nectar from flowers, and the
resulting honey is fed to their young or stored in the hive as
food. The average colony needs about 20 kg to survive the winter,
so beekeepers must leave some behind after their last crop.
· Beekeepers may also need to feed their bees with sugar syrup to
keep them going through a particularly cold spell or a long, drawn
out winter like this year.
· Good beekeepers will check hives for pests and diseases
throughout the year, but it’s even more important now as autumn
arrives because the bees stop flying and huddle together in the
hive for warmth. Pests or diseases spread much quicker in these
tight groups, and could lead to major colony losses.
· The ‘blood-sucking’ Varroa mite is the scourge of beekeepers
across the UK. It weakens bees and their brood, and is the source
of many serious bee viruses. Beekeepers need to monitor the number
of mites in their hives, applying treatment to eradicate them if possible.
· Other important jobs for early autumn include making sure that
hives are waterproof, well ventilated and secure from attack by
mice and woodpeckers. It is also important to check the health of
the Queen – to stay productive honey-producing colonies should be
headed by queens no more than two years old.
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