Membership/Courses
Benefits of Membership
- Automatic affiliation to the British Beekeepers Association which represents beekeepers at a national or international level. The BBKA News keeps us informed of news and events across the country.
- Beecraft, the official journal of the British Beekeepers Association is published monthly and distributed to members.
- A monthly newsletter giving details of future events, topical information and your opportunity to exchange your news and views.
- Automatic affiliation to the Surrey Beekeepers Association. This gives insurance cover on your hives and free insurance against third-party risks. The SBKA also shows and sells members honey at the Surrey County Show in Guildford.
- Access to the division's library of books, videos and other equipment.
- Entitlement to two free visits from a visiting advisor for the examination and reporting on up to six hives.
- Free entry to the annual Divisional Honey Show in the autumn of each year.
- A welcome to all the activities organised by the division.
- Friendship and help from fellow beekeepers at every level.
Membership costs just £36.00 each year with reduced rates for family or junior members. This includes an insurance premium payable for three hives.
Junior membership costs £7.00 pa. Associate membership costs £3.00 pa. (Under 21: £1.50)
Many members choose to covenant their subscriptions. As the Division is registered as a charity any tax paid can be reclaimed and this has been a great help in keeping subscriptions down.
Click here to download membership form
Insurance is provided by Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd. This covers frames, combs, excluders, crown boards, some honey and the queen in the event they have to be destroyed under the Bee Diseases Control Order, 1982. BDI is a non-profit making insurance society formed under the Industrial & Provident Societies Acts. Beekeepers with more hives (40 plus) can insure direct and insurance is also available from organisations like Beefarmers for other risks such as occupational injury to employees.
Members of the BBKA are also insured with the London & Edinbrugh Insurance Co Ltd. for public liability arising from their beekeeping activities and this includes their product liability. The BBKA can also offer an 'All Risks' scheme to cover apiary equipment, cups, trophies and beekeeping tools to maximum insured value of £5000.00
Beekeeping courses
Instruction in Beekeeping, especially but not exclusively for beginners, are managed and run on a commercial basis by John Hamer, a Surrey Bee Farmer, using his purpose built Beekeeping Centre at Blackhorse Apiaries in St Johns near Woking. The centre comprises of a modern single story building containing a classroom with teaching aids, a honey and wax processing room with honey extraction and bottling equipment, a workshop for general maintenance and storage, and the usual facilities for tea/coffee and comfort. Outside the centre is supported by areas of car parking, hive demonstrations, examples of apairy layouts and beehive types, bee-houses, and an apiary equiped with small colonies of bees to enable beginners to gain experience and confidence.
The tuition has been designed to work with local associations and equipment vendors to provide continual support for beekeepers during the early years. It aims to encourage beekeepers to understand the principles underlying what they are doing and to develop an efficient integrated managment style, keeping beekeepers in touch with their local environment and enabling them to care responsibly for their livestock. The courses are arranged so that the students can begin as novices learning to handle bees and establishing a colony through the first winter. They can then progress to managing the build up of a mature productive colony for the extraction of a crop of surplus honey and to control the number and strain of bees they wish to keep.
The bees have been selected for their quiet handling characteristics and all equipment is provided.
Full details from John Hamer, Blackhorse Apiaries, 28 Limewood Close, St Johns, Woking, GU21 1XA. Tel 0148 347 5259. http://www.blackhorseapiaries.org.uk/
