If you are on BeeBase you should have received a request from the National Bee Unit to update your hive count on Beebase.

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/login.cfm?relocate=/secure/beekeeper/hiveCensus.cfm

If you are not on BeeBase and you have bees then you really should Register Immediately!

Your annual membership fee has three components: the OBKA membership fee, a capitation fee which is paid to the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) and gives you full membership of that organisation and finally an insurance fee covering hive losses. This latter fee is paid to Bee Disease Insurance Ltd (BDI). (Some members also make a voluntary contribution to research projects at the same time as taking out membership.)

Membership Renewal 2020

In 2020, OBKA/BBKA/BDI is changing the processes for membership renewals and enrolments from the current paper based system to an online system. The new system, which is called eR2, keeps all membership records in a central database which is secure and complies with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations). We have used this system for over one year to store your members records and it has now been extended to cover enrolment, membership renewal and payment of membership fees.

It is envisaged that the new system will streamline the renewal and enrolment process and reduce the workload of the Membership Secretary (MemSec) and the Treasurer.

At the start of December, you will receive an email through eR2 inviting you to renew your membership with OBKA. If you choose to renew, you will be given a link to an er2 page showing your membership record and be given an opportunity to update it if there has been a change, e.g. change in address. After you have updated your membership record you will submit your renewal to the MemSec for approval. You will then be directed to a page giving you our bank account details so that you can make a payment by BACS. For those of you who don’t use or have access to the BACS payment process payment by cheque could be arranged if absolutely necessary.

When payment has been received, the MemSec will send you a receipt, the BDI certificate confirming that you have insurance cover and your membership record. Please note that neither BBKA nor OBKA issue membership cards as was the case a few years ago.

Emma James-English from Oxfam GB has contacted us as an organisation concerned about bees to see if any of our members would be interested in supporting their first crowdfunding project:

‘As a fellow organisation with a shared interest in bees, I wanted to reach out to share an exciting project!

We have just launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £60,000 to support a beekeeping enterprise we are running with our partner, SBKI, in Nepal.

The project supports small-holder farmers to become beekeepers.

If you are interested in the project, and especially if you are interested in contributing to the project, there is a huge amount of information on the project’s crowdfunding website:  https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/oxfambeesfornepal

3 July 2019

The first Asian Hornet of 2019 on UK mainland has been found in New Milton in Hampshire close to the New Forest. The Department of Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a press release saying it was spotted by an eagle-eyed member of the public, is thought to be a Queen and that inspectors are now in the area looking for a nest.

For further details see the BBKA Website.

See the Members section for details of some potential training courses that Mark Blanchette is proposing to run if there is enough interest.

We have a number of potential apiary sites being ‘advertised’ in the Classifieds section of the member’s Area – click on this link to see them (member’s password required for access).

See the new Classified’s section in the Members area for details of potential apiary sites and equipment for sale.

The minutes of the 2019 AGM are now available in the Members area.

22 March 2019

One of our members has had a hive (including brood box, 3 supers, the roof and stand) stolen from their out-apiary near Lower Heyford within the last week. The out-apiary was behind a locked gate.

We have had a holding page on bee health for some time. It has now been updated with lots of useful links to resources on the web, especially information on BeeBase.