Sad News on the passing of our own Dave Thomson on the 16th January. The following is a copy of Barbara's email to all members.......
Most of you will have met and chatted to Dave Thomson, a beekeeper, a member, a mentor and a member of our committee of many years standing.
Dave passed away yesterday and our thoughts are with Chris Ann, his wife and their wider family and friends.
Dave will be a great miss to our beekeeping community for his expertise and his gentle, friendly manner. He had been helping other beekeepers even last year and continuing to attend meetings and committee meetings - an absolute stalwart!
Petasites (Butterbur)
A New Year observation from Pam & Roger.... Spring is just around the corner!!
The Petasites are in flower. If it were warm enough for the bees to go on a cleansing flight this would be their first forage of the year as they love them.
DIARY
FEBRUARY
Wednesday 19th - 7.30pm on Zoom, Jack Sillberrad will give a talk entitled "99p or EFB"
MARCH
Wednesday 19th - 7.30pm Bron and David Wright will come to speak to us at St Clements Hall about 'Bees and Trees'.
APRIL
Wednesday16th - 7.30pm AGM and Quiz, St Clements Hall
MAY
Sunday 25th - An Apiary visit to Inverewe! We are invited to a meeting at Kirsty WIlliams' apiary in the wild flower meadow opposite the Inverewe gardens on May 25th (Sunday) at 2.00pm. We can park at Inverewe and the restaurant will be open for refreshments after the visit. No restrictions on numbers as there will be plenty of space.
https://kirstywilliamsbees.wixsite.com/thebritishbeecompany
Galleries Honey Delights 27/11/24
On any galleries of images on this website, click an image to enlarge it and then use the arrows to view them.
The "Latest news" column will be regularly updated with what's new for the Association.
We will continue to keep you up to date with emails. Feel free to use our Facebook page to communicate with your fellow members.
Recent events
Thursday 23rd January 7.30pm
Alan Riach from SBA will gave an interesting and entertaining talk entitled "Beekeeping - My Methods and Experiments". This ZOOM meeting was recorded so may be available for members to watch
Wednesday 27th November 7.30pm
Caroline MacKenzie gave an entertaining presentation entitled "Honey Delights". There were many flavoured honeys along with the many 'add ins' that can be used to suit your palate. Barbara Gray gave a short demo on honey butter.
After the presentations there were lots of tastings of the different honeys, butters and also some of the honey samples that members brought to add to the mix.
Jo Young did a short presentation on the candle moulds that the association have for members use.
Certificates were presented to a number of members who completed their Basic Bee Keeping Certificate.
Saturday 19th 2.00pm Candle Making with David Edes. David ran a candle making workshop for up to 8 members.
Thursday 10th October - Angie gave a talk to Primary 6/7 classes at Avoch Primary School.
Saturday 5th October - D&DBKA Honey Show - judge was Alan Riach, Education Officer, SBA. Held at Munro's Nurseries, Munlochy.
Wednesday 18th September - Arthur Hill gave a short talk on 'A Victor Meldrew vision of modern beekeeping' before introducing Clifford Smith, our friendly Environmental Health Officer who talked about safely processing our honey. Caroline Mackenzie will then give a chat about preparation and tips for the Honey Show.
Saturday 7th September - Feil Maree - a community event in Dingwall. Photos available in Gallery.
Saturday 24th August - Black Isle Food and Drink Festival - a well-attended demonstration of honey-associated products conducted by Caroline Mackenzie and Barbara Gray. Photos available in Gallery.
Friday 9th August - Barbara Gray hosted a meeting on the subject of assessing varroa levels and treatment options. Photographs, courtesy of Angie and David, are available here and in the Gallery.
Monday 5th August - Angie gave a talk to the Fortrose Guides. Photograph in Gallery.
Saturday 27th July- Arthur Hill's apiary at Scatwell. Refreshments were made available at the Community Centre for a donation to the community. It was great to be able to enjoy the conditions and get to socialise on this, the first outdoor session of the year - remarkable!
Saturday 29th June- Kay Liston Apiary visit - Loch Carron. Again another indoor chat due to poor conditions.
Wednesday 19th June - Jo and Stuart Young Apiary visit, Aigas. Poor conditions so an indoor chat.
Friday 31st May- Barbara Gray held a 2nd session for Beginners at her Culbokie Apiary.
Wednesday/Thursday 29th/30th MayThe Association was invited by RHET to provide educational sessions for some S1 children on at the Black Isle Showground for Primary 5-7 on the Importance of Pollinators to Food Production.
Friday 17th May - Barbara Gray hosted a session for Beginners at her Culbokie Apiary.
Tuesday 14th May The Association was invited by RHET to provide educational sessions for some S1 children at Fortrose Academy on 14th May on Food.
Saturday 27th April AGM of SBA - Spectrum Centre, Inverness. Our Association and Inverness-shire co-hosted the event at the Spectrum Centre in Inverness. The SBA AGM business will take place in the morning and there was 3 talks in the afternoon with something to interest all beekeepers.
Saturday 20th April 10am-4pm at Culloden Baptist Church, Wellside, Balloch IV2 7GS. Andrew Card of Loch Ness Honey organised a visit from Abelo with their Equipment Trade Show. We were delighted with our reception at the Show, meeting members and prospective new members and spending more money than intended! Thanks, Andrew Card.
Memberships are renewed as from the April AGM. A link to the membership/ renewal form can be found on the "Joining the Association" page. A new password will be forwarded to you by the Membership Secretary.