OBKA AGM 2022

After two years of virtual AGMs it was good to get back to a physical meeting where OBKA members could catch up with one another, enjoy tea, biscuits and cake – and have an AGM.

The AGM took place at the Baptist Church in Kidlington. Easy to get to with ample parking. On arrival, after being booked in by Richard Stansfield, OBKA’s hard working Secretary there was tea and biscuits and lots of cake to be had.

The meeting started on time at 1930hrs with the OBKA Treasurer, Phil Hart in the Chair. We moved swiftly and efficiently through the agenda and finished on time at 2015hrs. The Trustees were re-elected and we have a new Events Co-ordinator, Fiona Gibson (events@obka.org.uk) and a new Membership Secretary Yvonne Parks (membership@obka.org.uk).

During the discussions Margaret Murdin, past Chair of the BBKA and OBKA’s Honorary Member, mentioned the collection of BBKA publications she has brought along for anyone to purchase. And one of the publications on show was OBKA Apiary Manager Andy Pedley’s just published book on ‘Food Safety for Beekeepers’

After a quick break we had a talk from the OBKA President, Professor Geraldine Wright, the Hope Professor of Entomology at the University of Oxford. The theme of her talk was bee nutrition and my personal take-aways from the talk are (1) bees need a varied diet and (2) feeding them protein as part of the winter feed can significantly improve their chances of getting through the winter.

At the end of her talk Prof. Wright presented the Seth Smith Cup to Martyn Butt for Best Beginner in the 2021 Basic award and David Edwards received his certificate for Module 3 – Bee Health (and in the last year David Richardson has passed Module 1 ‘Honey Bee Management’ and Vera Jordan has also passed Module 3)