Awards for All

[gavin]

AfA have generously dipped into their pockets and given us a grant to get beekeeping in the community on a better footing in Tayside. We are now starting to set up an apiary for the local association and will be using it to teach potential beekeepers, to provide stocks of bees to beginners, to help breed and supply better bees locally and to introduce other interested groups to bees.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Perthshire/article/3459/perth-and-kinross-community-groups-set-to-share-lottery-cash.html

[Trog]

Hurrah! Can we swap notes on this thread (and indeed invite comments from other BKAs who already do this) so we can all learn how best to do it ? Where will you be getting your assoc bees from?

[gavin]

We can and should indeed swap notes. Suddenly I'm the newbie though!

I had planned to buy bees from - ahem - a local supplier or two, but Bee Health issues have stymied that one, for now at least. Safer to wait until next spring. In the meantime we had a donation of bees from a retiring member (she's not *that* retiring!) and that colony now has given us two that should be OK for the winter.

Things to do include, well, everything! Sort a shed, arrange the layout, make some stands, source some empty hives, nuc boxes, mating mini-nucs, feeders, frames ... and make a plan for how we are going to use it in the best way!

So many things to discuss .... and do!

G.

[Trog]

Hi, Gavin. Can tick most of the items on that list except the nuc boxes. Have two twinstocks all ready to be filled with bees. Using the site the best way ... now, there's something to discuss!

[Jon]

I am also very interested in this thread as I want to develop what I started this year re. queen rearing and supplying bees to new BKA members.
Mervyn Eddie from Dromore BKA has been rearing up to 100 AMM queens per year for members of his BKA and I think typically they have provided over 50 nucs headed by AMM queens to members for £60 each.
We have arranged to meet up to share notes and plan things out more formally for next year.

One of the main things to establish is who takes responsibility for various areas.

Tasks include:

1. Setting up one or more cell raising colonies.
I use a queenright double brood system and this involves rearranging all the brood frames between top and bottom box once a week for two months while queen rearing is going on.

2. Finding enough bees to make up nucs.

3. Finding enough young bees to fill Apideas.

4. Chosing a suitable donor colony for grafting.

4. Finding a good mating site for queens in Apideas.

5. Organising teaching and demonstration time.

6. Buying queen rearing equipment, sugar/fondant for Apideas, cell plugs and frames etc.

In June and July I was spending about 25-30 hours weekly at this and next year there would need to be more delegation of tasks or I will find myself thrown out of the house by my other half!

With regards to equipment, perhaps the way to go is to charge participating members a tenner to put into a kitty which could be used to buy the necessary equipment.
The main problem seems to be finding enough bees to make up the nucs in late summer.

[Jimbo]

Hi Guys,

Helensburgh BKA got an AfA grant a number of years ago but purchased AV equipment for speakers to use during their winter meetings. This year they got a grant from the Co-op for bee breeding. The secretary (Mike Thornley) could advise who they applied to.

Jimbo

[drumgerry]

I've been given the task of looking into possible lottery/awards for all funding by my local association. We already have an association apiary which we set up this year. It has been put together using donated bees and equipment but we are planning a queen rearing/nuc production programme and hope to get some funding to help with that. Also we've been running classes for new beekeepers and taster sessions for members of the public. Funding would be aimed at continuing that as well.

Any info/advice that could be offered in taking this further would be very gratefully received.

Gerry

[gavin]

Hi Gerry

AfA like to fund new projects, so getting funding for an apiary already underway may not be easy. Perhaps a queen raising/bee breeding project might we worth trying though?

Jimbo mentioned a Co-op grant for bee breeding in his association. There is also the Clyde Area Beekeeping Association apiary, and there is a small group of us in East Central Scotland hoping to get a collaborative mating apairy under way. All of that is making me wonder whether there is a possibility of a regional group for the north east too?

best wishes

Gavin

[Jimbo]

Hi guys,

Another source of funding I have been successful with is Scottish Natural Heritage. Over the last 2 years a small group of us have set up a local nature reserve and were awarded a total of £20,000 Breeding the native black bee was only one aspect of the award and most of the funding was for putting in infrasructure eg paths, fences, interpretation hut etc. If properly organised either by the SBA or local associations there would be no reason why they could not apply for a bee breeding project. Think big when you apply and if you can keep the amount under £10,000 the decision is usually taken at a local level. and not passed up to national level for a decision.

Jimbo

[Calum]

Hi,
I realise that it may not be possible with the amount awarded, but I have noticed that many potential beginners are put off by the big investment costs of starting up.
I think the hardest cost to justify is the extractor - costs minimum 400€ to 820€ (with self turning frame holders and programmeable motor comtroller) for something used for a couple of hours a year. I'd like to get into a position for our club to have an extractor for use by all members at a small fee - that would lover the cost barrier to entry immensly (the fee would be for paying it off / repairs / replacement).
just a thought.

AfA have generously dipped into their pockets and given us a grant to get beekeeping in the community on a better footing in Tayside. We are now starting to set up an apiary for the local association and will be using it to teach potential beekeepers, to provide stocks of bees to beginners, to help breed and supply better bees locally and to introduce other interested groups to bees.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Perthshire/article/3459/perth-and-kinross-community-groups-set-to-share-lottery-cash.html

[gavin]

Certainly worth considering Calum. I don't remember costing an extractor into the proposal, but it may be possible to divert some funds. For example, we're still to decide whether we need a new shed or whether relocating a second hand one on offer may be feasible.

G.

[Calum]

I shed for bees ? Or for meetings? Also what we do have which is great is a industrial dough maker, great for making up cake feed (? dont know what to call in in english) 6 kg honey mixed with 10kg sugar powder - great for feeding apedias and nucs.. And a wax press. But it is expensive, and easy to damages, so everyone relies on everyone else looking after it.

[gavin]

The shed would be mostly for storing equipment - nucs, queen raising bits and pieces, spare boxes - and also maybe somewhere to sit to do fiddly things, and to keep records? Perhaps also somewhere to use the association microscope, or at least to store it.

The bees will be outside of course. Although a bee house sounds nice the function of the apiary is to teach and experiment and breed, so it would be a bit too unusual for us here.

Most people here who use fondant buy it in in blocks of around 12.5kg from bakery wholesalers - sounds like the best way to do it. Wax press sounds good though.

[Jon]

We have a guy in our BKA with a wax press and he does a swap of wax for foundation every spring.

[Calum]

going for that myself this year too we have a guy that charges 2,50€/kg including heat treating to kill foul brood. but he only takes batches of min 6kg so people with 3-4 colonies can save up for a couple of years..... like i said it is toughest for beginners, or people with less than 4 colonies or less than 800-1000€ honey crop / year.