Welcome to the web site of the Mid Bucks Beekeepers Association.

The Association was founded in 1946 to serve the interests of beekeepers in the central part of Buckinghamshire and the surrounding counties. 

Have you found a swarm of bees?

Bees swarm naturally as their way or making new colonies.  Swarm_thumb03

The Mid Bucks Beekeepers Association runs a swarm collection service.    If you find a swarm of bees contact our Swarm Officer:

Martin Holman

07851 392891

He will ask a local beekeeper to come and take the bees away.

Swarms are not dangerous but you should keep children and pets away from them until the bekeeper arrives.

 

Our members benefit from

  • Contact with fellow beekeepers
  • Advice on suitable hive sites
  • Telephone and possible practical help managing bees
  • Help in dealing with difficult colonies
  • Seasonal advice on a monthly basis
  • Advice on queen raising and introduction
  • Opportunities to purchase second hand equipment and discounts on protective clothing.

The Association has a Teaching Apiary at Stoke Mandeville where meetings and practical demonstrations are held during the summer.

Colony Losses

30 members have responded to our survey of colony losses over the winter 2007-2008.

The main findings are:

    Our members had a total of 132 colonies at the start of the winter.

    47 of these were lost.

    Overall percentage losses = 35.6%

The losses over last winter were worse than anyone can remember.   Experienced beekeepers who normally go through the winter without losing any colonies were suffering unprecedented losses. 

Members were asked to record their observations and suggest reasons why colonies failed.

Click here to see more results and someindex_html_smartbutton202 conclusions from the survey.

Queen raising

During July we will be holding a demonstration of queen raising using the Ben Holden method

The operations will take place between July 2nd and July 16th index_html_smartbutton203

Click here for more information 

Summer events

During the summer we will be giving displays at a number of fetes and shows.

Our next display will be at The Lee Flower Show on Saturday 19th July

Click here for details of the other index_html_smartbutton202events we will be at during the summer.