Our charitable aims are to promote and further the craft of beekeeping and to advance the education of the public in the importance of bees in the environment.
For full details of our organisation click here…
Market Rasen is a District of Lincolnshire BKA which is a registered charity (reg. charity no. 500360)
Market Rasen District Beekeepers will be having a marquee at Stainton Le Vale on Sunday 8th June.
It is an opportunity for us to talk to the general public about Honey bees and beekeeping.
We have information, an observation hive. We sell association honey and there are games.
It is a wonderful family day and is very well attended.
We would appreciate any help you might be able to offer, whether it is to set up or attend on the day, for as long or little as is possible. Please contact Sue Heron
18th Horncastle, Skep Making with Eddy Gadd at 7.00pm
25th North Lincolnshire, Asian Hornet & Spring Preparation – Roger Brit
25th Sleaford – Andy Wattam, National Bee Inspector – Bee Diseases
27th Louth, Peter Verdegaal, Talk on the Asian Hornet
2nd Stamford, Bee Inspector
4th Market Rasen, Dave Bonner Bees Abroad.
9th Lincoln Ian Maughan, Swarm Control and Prevention
12th The Great Lincolnshire Bee Auction, Lincoln Showground, Auction Starts 10.30am, more info graham@lbka.onmicrosoft.com
26th LBKA AGM
27th Louth 1:00pm to 3:00pm Hive health check, record keeping ‘hows and whys’ and colony assessment for the new season. (Note Time)
Boston – 7pm Kirton Leisure, 31a Willington Road, Kirton, Boston,
Lincoln – 7.30pm Castle Ward working mens club, Kingsley St, Lincoln LN1 3JN,
Louth – 7.30pm, Alvingham Village Hall
Grantham – 7.30pm Great Gonerby Social Club, NG31 8JS
Horncastle – 7pm The Conservative Club, Woodhall Spa, LN10 6PZ
Market Rasen – 7.30pm Middle Rasen Church Hall, LN8 3TS
North Lincolnshire – 7.30pm Broughton Village Hall, High Street, DN20 0JR
Sleaford – 7.30pm Barge & Bottle, Carre Street, Sleaford, NG34 7TW
Stamford & Bourne – 7.30 The George Hotel, Stamford, Postcode PE9 2LB
All Meetings are open to LBKA members. Payment may be asked from non members.
1 Agenda
Our next meeting on Thursday 6th February will be our District AGM.
At this meeting we will also be offering a number of free labels for Honey Jars which have information about Asian Hornets. This is one way we feel that we can help inform the public about this threat to our bees.
We look forward to seeing you.
Regards – Sue Heron, Secretary
Dear Members
Although we like to be happy and cheerful as we enter a new year and do indeed wish everyone a Happy new year I am afraid that the old year ended on a sad note. Our member, Marie-Claire Baines sadly died on the 15th December. Her loss is deeply felt by her husband Richard and those of us who regarded her as a friend.
Claire was one of the kindest and most generous people I have had the privilege to know. In her quiet way she did so much to help our District so her passing is a loss to us all. For many years she helped in the apiary; nothing was too much trouble. I think the words, ” I’ll do that” or something similar are ones I most associate with Claire. She also always volunteered to help at the shows in which our District was involved, often taking full responsibility for the wax side of things especially the candle rolling. Our group greatly benefitted from Claire’s love of candle making. She would take away a block of wax and return with a box of beautiful candles – all donated for the District to sell – after the necessary polishing with her little soft brush of course. Did you know that candles improve with polishing? I didn’t until Claire explained about removing the bloom that naturally occurs on wax.
These are just a few examples of why I want to say with great affection,”Thank you Claire, you will be greatly missed”.
Celia Smith
Happy New Year!
Our next meeting is Thursday, 2nd January, 2025.
It is a Nibbles and Natter Session.
We will have an informal get-together where we can talk about our past seasons successes and disappointments and our plans for the next year over a cup of tea/coffee and something to eat.
Please come along and bring something to eat and share.
Regards – Sue Heron
This is advance notice of our AGM, on Thursday 6h February, 2025, at the Church Hall, Middle Rasen (LN8 3TR). Meeting starts at 7.30pm.
2024 AGM Agenda:
Any suggestions for inclusion in the agenda should be with me (mrbksec@gmail.com) by 2nd January in order to be circulated before the meeting.
Regards
Sue Heron
Everyone enjoyed the evening very much.
Dale Gibson from Louth District Beekeepers was our judge. The informality of it meant that we could talk more and ask questions.
Three people entered honey, and Sue Heron entered mead and cake.
Entries were made by me – Sue Heron, Celia Smith and Richard Fowler.
Our District Apiary at Legsby is a very important asset to our club, providing an area to train and give experience to new beekeepers.
Jamie Jackson has kindly been giving his time to keep the grass under control at the district apiary but we feel that we need to do an end of year tidy-up. Please can you let me know if you are able to join a group to lend a hand in this task.
Also we have an amount of equipment that needs cleaning. Again if you can offer some time to help, this would be gratefully received.
Contact Sue Heron
2024 has seen a very busy year for Statutory Notifiable Bee Diseases across England and Wales with over 600 cases of European Foulbrood and 50 cases of American Foulbrood identified and dealt with by the National Bee Unit’s Bee Inspectors.
The North Eastern Region of which Lincolnshire is part – has been no exception to this with a total of 129 Cases of EFB and 33 cases of AFB across the Region.
Within Lincolnshire itself 43 cases of EFB have been dealt with , no AFB has so far been discovered within the County, but inspection work continues whilst the weather is suitable.
Please would members follow this link which shows each of the 10km squares where disease has been identified : Live EFB Report » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase within the County and also surrounding counties where EFB has been identified such as Nottinghamshire, Norfolk and Yorkshire. We are looking at twelve x 10km squares in the County with confirmed disease plus some adjoining squares in other counties.
Beekeepers who have apiaries in these 10km areas should please register their apiaries onto Beebase : Register » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase
Our data policy is shown here: Personal information charter – Animal and Plant Health Agency – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The only way we can hope to control levels of disease is to work together to ensure that our own and our neighbours’ bees have been inspected by the National Bee Units Inspectors in the high risk areas and this applies to members of the Lincolnshire Beekeepers Association and those who are not members – we treat everyone alike. Please be mindful that membership of the Association does not mean that your apiary sites are registered on Beebase. There is still a fair amount of brood present in colonies so please reference the information below and then have a good look at your colonies before the close of the season.
There are three Bee Inspectors who currently work in Lincolnshire that is Adrian Kennedy, Barry Perkins and Myself – Andy Wattam – Contact for all inspectors can be found here: Contact Us » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase please do not hesitate to make contact with us if you are concerned about possible brood disease within your colonies
Finally, here is some useful information and publications:
Foulbrood » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase
Foulbrood_2017_Web_version.pdf (nationalbeeunit.com)
Diseases, pests and hygiene » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase
As we are in Varroa Treatment time our managing varroa booklet is a useful reference: Varroa » APHA – National Bee Unit – BeeBase please remember to keep a record of the treatments purchased and used – this handy record sheet can be used: Veterinary_Medicine_Administration_Record-3.pdf (nationalbeeunit.com)
Kind Regards.
Andy Wattam.
National Bee Inspector – Head of Bee Health Field Inspectorate for England & Wales.
