You have signed up to the mailing list for news about BIBBA and the National BeeImprovement Programme. Please add to your email contacts, to reduce the chance of our newsletters going into your spam folder.You will receive a confirmation email; if it does not come through then check your spam folder. You can view recent back issues of […]
[…]Others would argue that it is easier and cheaper to import from abroad; after all, some think bees are bees are bees! When asked about the Black Bee, many will repeat what they have read in books and journals: a defensive and aggressive race with low productivity, adapted to the colder, wetter climate of western and northern Europe where it […]
Thanks for signing up to receive reminders on the current season of webinars on the National BeeImprovement Programme. You will also receive updates on BIBBA activities. We will register you as a supporter of NatBIP so that you receive information on progress in the future. Will will undeavour to only send one email to those who have previously signed […]
[…]it didn’t entirely work, I need to clarify that. In May, I had two queens to use on my personal beeimprovement programme. Now, I would say that I have around 25 or so and five of those are significantly better than the two I had before. I have set up three apiaries and will group my bees next spring […]
[…]but should also be relevant to those of lesser experience who wish to understand their bees more. BeeImprovement is appropriate to all beekeepers. The emphasis will be on using bees that will thrive and survive in the locality they are kept in. The topics we have arranged are relevant to all beekeepers, but they are pitched at different levels, […]
Recordings of the majority of webinars are also available on our YouTube Channel Don’t forget to sign up here, for free, to learn more about our future […]
[…]find common ground and begin to select and improve their local bees. For over 150 years we have been importing bees of other sub-species, often with the aim of obtaining better quality bees. At best, this has only resulted in short-term relief, perhaps with more docile bees but, unfortunately the good qualities cannot be maintained, and it is not long […]
[…]Annual – Publication with articles from BIBBA Monthly Publications and guidance on beeimprovement and queen rearing Support for local BeeImprovement Groups Lectures, demonstrations, workshops on all aspects of beeimprovement Support us in developing a hardy, docile and productive bee. 2. Sign up as a Supporter of the National BeeImprovement Programme (NatBIP). (Free) Supporters of the scheme […]
[…]a colony during the active season and recorded on the Record Card. Whether we are working on beeimprovement as an individual, or as a group, we must decide which qualities are important to us. The fewer the qualities we wish to select, the easier it is to make progress. In this NatBIP Guide, there is an example of a […]
[…]or improve, the more chance we have of making progress and achieving our aim. The National BeeImprovement Programme (NatBIP) does not dictate what qualities to select or how to assess those qualities. NatBIP will make suggestions of tried and tested methods that have been shown to produce results, but individuals and groups will be free to make their own […]
[…]normal hive management as well as for beeimprovement in one apiary, multiple apiaries, or in a beeimprovement group. The data collected on each card is for one colony. The summaries at the end of the season can be collated onto the Apiary Record Card (4.18) which will have one row per colony giving an overview of apiary performance […]
[…]this is an ongoing process which is repeated each season. The daughter queens play a key part in beeimprovement and establishing our selected strain in an area because irrespective of her open mating with its mixed mating possibilities the drones she produces will carry only her mother’s genes. This is because drones have only half of the chromosomes which […]
[…]opportunity arises. Assessment of colonies using a record card is the first step on the path to beeimprovement. The NatBIP Logo The NatBIP project, although organised by BIBBA, will have its own logo. This is because its appeal is expected to reach well beyond the BIBBA membership. Also, although bees do not recognise national boundaries, we want beekeepers to […]
[…]the solutions for sustainable beekeeping that BIBBA offers. I’m delighted also that the National BeeImprovement Programme has been welcomed so heartily by beekeepers and with a near 50% increase in our membership during 2020 there is a paradigm shift taking place in the hearts and minds of beekeepers. I’m delighted to be able to support this shift in the […]
[…]queen, and are in a good position to expand rapidly, as the weather and forage pick up. From a beeimprovement point of view, it is important to start assessing the qualities of our colonies, and therefore of our queens, so that we can select a queen, or queens, to use to produce the next generation of queens. Ideally, have […]
[…]of knowing we are contributing to the solution rather than being part of the problem. The National BeeImprovement Programme (NatBIP), as proposed by BIBBA, encourages beekeepers to start with the bees in their area, to avoid the use imports or offspring of recently imported bees, and to select and improve from the local population. Over time, through natural selection, […]
[…]to select and improve from this population. As beekeepers, we sometimes ask a lot of our bees, but beeimprovement offers us the chance to develop bees that are good survivors as well as offering the qualities that the beekeeper wants or needs. Queen rearing and drones Photo by Roger Patterson It is worth remembering that all the queens that […]
Midlothian group helping local beekeepers and novices start beekeeping and beeimprovement. Our intention is to lend a colony bees to each new beekeeper that joins us, from which they can, with our assistance, breed new colonies both for themselves and to repay their debt. For further information please contact: […]
[…]Nick Bentham-Green. Nick is the Chair of B4 (Bring Back Black Bees) and a former Chair of BIBBA (BeeImprovement and Bee Breeders’ Association). The Project will run for between 5 and 10 years and will explore how beekeeping on the Isles of Scilly can become more sustainable as the honey bees that are already on the Isles become increasingly […]
The Path of BeeImprovement - Jo Widdicombe For those actively trying to go down the path of beeimprovement, it pays to take a long-term view. Most people know that beekeeping is littered with triumphs and disasters, probably in equal measures. Despite the ups and downs, I like to aim to do a bit better in the current season […]
[…]‘good-tempered’ and ‘productive’ bees, or whatever characteristics we value. The beauty of beeimprovement is that we can select for the qualities that we want and are not merely subject to accepting the bee breeder’s choice, with bees often designed for warmer, more settled climates. BIBBA has been preaching this message for years but detractors either do not believe it […]
[…]our National BeeImprovement Programme (NatBIP) We are now taking forward our flagship National BeeImprovement Programme (NatBIP) into its next phase and, as part of this, we need promote our message about native honey bees and beeimprovement to a much wider audience. We are therefore very pleased that Sir Tim Smit (from the Eden Project) offered to help […]
[…]Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. This is an initiative organised by the BeeImprovement and Bee Breeders’ Association (BIBBA), with the aims of reducing the number of imports of honey bees into Britain, Ireland and associated islands* and of improving the quality of our honey bees. This Programme aims to provide a way forward to […]
[…]Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. This is an initiative organised by the BeeImprovement and Bee Breeders’ Association (BIBBA), with the aims of reducing the number of imports of honey bees into Britain, Ireland and associated islands* and of improving the quality of our honey bees. This Programme aims to provide a way forward to […]
[…]two or more years’ experience, who have inspected colonies more than 40-50 times. Queen rearing, beeimprovement, locally adapted bees, etc All beekeepers should be able to get something out of this group, as the stock we keep is very important, not just for ourselves, but our surrounding beekeepers and the free-living population. General Interest The videos under this heading […]
[…]Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. This is an initiative organised by the BeeImprovement and Bee Breeders’ Association (BIBBA), with the aims of reducing the number of imports of honey bees into Britain, Ireland and associated islands* and of improving the quality of our honey bees. This Programme aims to provide a way forward to […]
[…]course of the day. In addition, Jo Widdicombe provided one of the speaker sessions on Sustainable BeeImprovement, which was well attended and enabled us to get our message across directly to more beekeepers. We have completely re-vamped the BIBBA Stand and now have electronic sign-up for new memberships and a card payment system. Both were very successful as was […]
[…]anything – we have had a break. Actually, the planning and organisation goes on. The National BeeImprovement Programme is designed to promote the partnership between bees and beekeepers, for the mutual benefit of both. The Programme centres around its participants not its organisers. We really welcome the input of ideas and descriptions of practices that you have found work […]
[…]together, or an association’s breeding programme. Basis of the Method In September 2016, at the BeeImprovement and Bee Breeding Association (BIBBA) conference on the Isle of Man, I was lucky enough to attend an excellent presentation on queen rearing by the Dutch commercial beekeeper Jeroen Vorstman. I had been raising queens myself quite successfully for some time using the […]
[…]beekeepers working together, or an association’s breeding programme. In September 2016, at the BeeImprovement and Bee Breeding Association (BIBBA) conference on the Isle of Man, I was lucky enough to attend an excellent presentation on queen rearing by the Dutch commercial beekeeper Jeroen Vorstman. I had been raising queens myself quite successfully for some time using the Ben Harden […]
[…]Andrew Abrahams Soapbox presentations The role of science Making native bees available Defining the new society Exploring actions for the future [/column-half-1] [column-half-2] Aims for the day Understand native bees better Learn about existing groups Agreement on the society’s aims Getting more people involved Meet others from same area Decisions on what to do next [/column-half-2] full details of start […]
[…]flea biology! The bees were excellent, although I did not realize this at the time. My interest in bees & beekeeping increased to total involvement. I obtained the BBKA Certificate in Apiculture under the guidance of Adrian Waring (also an early member of BIBBA), who had replaced George Sommerville as CBI.I joined the local BKA and was eventually elected to […]
[…]are cleaned with caustic soda and then spray washed and kept separate for return to the individual beekeeper. He produces 40 tonne of beeswax per year, and converts the best wax to foundation, which is then packaged for resale by himself or mostly by Sweienty, of whom later. Older discoloured wax is sent for industrial use and the residue is […]
[…]for many of the problems in the early 20th century. We now know that acarine mites infest young bees andAmm bees have tougher hairs that cover the spiracles, preventing many mites from infesting the bees. Amm retain more waste matter in the gut than other races, Italians in particular, meaning they can wait longer between cleansing flights, rather than soil […]
