Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association

A warm welcome to Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association – GBKA.

We are is a registered charity (no 263712) with the principal object of promoting and furthering the craft of beekeeping.

GBKA has been doing this for over 100 years and has members all over the county and from neighbouring counties.

About Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association

The seven branches of GBKA carry on most beekeeping activities. Each branch runs its own programme of lectures, talks, training sessions and apiary sessions.

The branches are Cheltenham and Gloucester, Cirencester and District, Dean Forest, Newent, North Cotswold, South Gloucestershire and Stroud .

GBKA is a member organisation of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA). BBKA is a national organisation that provides a wide range of services to beekeepers including insurance, information, newsletters, examination programmes and legal advice, as well as promoting beekeeping. See the BBKA website for the full range of its services, including downloadable information leaflets and articles.

Individuals who join a branch get the benefits they offer, the benefits of GBKA and BBKA, and right to attend other branch meetings. If you would like to find out more about joining a branch go to the Joining GBKA page.

GBKA also takes part in the Midland and South West Counties Convention.

Latest News posts:

Asian Hornet found in Gloucestershire

The National Bee Unit has confirmed a sighting of the Asian hornet in the Tetbury area of Gloucestershire – the first time the hornet has been discovered in the UK.

The Asian hornet is smaller than our native hornet and poses no greater risk to human health than a bee. However, they do pose a risk to honey bees.

Work to identify, destroy and remove any nests is already underway, which includes:

setting up a 3 mile surveillance zone around Tetbury
opening a local control centre to coordinate the response
deploying bee inspectors across the area who will use infrared cameras and traps to locate any nests
readying nest disposal experts who will use pesticides to kill the hornets and destroy any nests

Traps can be manufactured fairly cheaply and can be hung out now to catch mated queen hornets looking for somewhere to hibernate and definitely should be deployed in quantity in the early spring, baited with suitable attractants: beer, sugar, meat, fish. For plans see http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadNews.cfm?id=122

Beekeeping suppliers including Paynes (01273 843388) stock the Apishield Hornet trap. They cost about £50 each.

We now wait to hear whether the combined might of DEFRA, now deployed to Tetbury, will have found and exterminated the nest, if nest it is. But this will only be the first incursion. Even Julius Caesar had to take two attempts to invade Britain successfully.

Skep Making Days

skeps Following Cirencester’s successful Skep making day in February, Easter Saturday saw the second, arranged for the county.

12 members representing Cirencester & District, Stroud, Newent, Cheltenham & Glos. and South Glos. met at Harnhill and spent six hours learning the craft from Chris Park. We did break for a delicious soup and roll lunch.

Chris was extremely patient with all participants, fortunately, and we each left with the beginnings of a skep, fruit bowl, hat or other container. There were ample supplies of straw and lapping cane for us to take home to complete our creations.

We are aiming to arrange a 4^th date at the end of August. Contact Helen Moreton – sec@cirencesterbeekeepers.org.uk – for more information.

Chris can be contacted at www.acorneducation.com . E-mail info@acorneducation.com

2016 Beekeeping Shows and Conventions

The Midland and South Western Counties Convention will be held at the King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston, Gower, Swansea on the weekend of 14th to 16th October. For full details please go to mswcc.org.uk

The National Honey Show, held in Weybridge, will be on the weekend 27th to 29th October. Full details are on their web site honeyshow.co.uk

Working towards the General Husbandry Certificate

GBKA would like to encourage more members to aim for achieving the BBKA General Husbandry Certificate.

There is information about the qualification on the BBKA web site here: General Husbandry

If you would like to prepare for the assessment or would like to help others work towards it, please get in touch with our Examinations Secretary Bernie Danvers, email berniedanvers@hotmail.co.uk or phone 01594 825063.

Helping Your Neighbour

This is a useful little document that beekeepers can pass on to their neighbour to put them at ease when they are going to open up their hives.

Dear Neighbour,

I am delighted to tell you that I now have a colony of bees at our house and wanted to let you know what that means and reassure you of any concerns you may have.

This is an A4 pamphlet that you can download and pass on to your neighbours if they are not understanding all the reasons why you have bees and why you need to look at them every so often.

download the leaflet

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