Bee Improvement and Bee Breeding Groups

BIBBA encourages the formation of local queen rearing groups to aid the improvement of local bees and to support the objectives of BIBBA to improve and propagate the native and near native honey bees.

Benefits of Local Groups
Many beekeepers only have a small number of colonies, so they find it easier to work with others. A group will have beekeepers with different expertise that can be pooled. Even the newest beekeepers can have a useful role until they gain knowledge and experience.A local group can pool expertise of different disciplines… honey bee management, record keeping, queen rearing, equipment making, administration, etc. More beekeepers means there are more colonies to select material from and to provide good quality drones, as well as maximising the number of colonies under management, evaluation and study.Groups can liaise with one another and with scientific institutions if they wish. They can distribute genetic material beyond their own confines to wider circles of beekeepers, thereby improving bees overall.

Forming a bee improvement and breeding group
There are several things you need to consider including:-

• Do you need a constitution, so members know what is expected?
• If you store personal data, are you GDPR compliant?
• What assessment criteria do you want in your bees?
• How are you going to operate?
• Do you need funding?
• Can you combine with a local BKA?

You may already have the expertise, but if not, then BIBBA can offer help and tuition, perhaps from other groups or experienced individuals. We ask only that one person in a group is a member of BIBBA, although we hope more will join over time.

Where to now?
View the entries below; if there is a group near you then get in touch, otherwise read ‘Start a Group’

Sign-up for Group updates.

Sandringham Project

For information on groups, please email

information on starting a group is available here;
there is also information in BIM 33