Making a difference?

[John M]

As people with an abiding interest in honey bees we are all aware of the comment "the bees are in trouble." The intent of this thread is to inform you of a genuine attempt to do something which will contribute in a small way to improving that situation. Most of us started by attending courses run by our local associations and if we were lucky we were able to buy a nuc there relatively cheaply or acquire a swarm. But recently the price of nucs and hives has risen steeply and where do you go if you want to take your beekeeping to a larger scale?

For the last two years I have acted as beekeeping mentor and trainer to a young beekeeper who has decided she wants to make a career out of looking after bees. She is incredibly dedicated and very capable and has made a success of establishing her own series of apiaries.
She has come to realise that there is a lack of opportunity for others to gain experience of working full time with bees and is arranging to help two young people to learn by working with her for the summer.
She is also concerned at the cost to new beekeepers of getting their first hive and plans to work with her students to breed up to 50 nucs from her own colonies which will be sold at a very much lower price than that charged by the main dealers. The nucs will be sold at the point where they require to be in a full hive body and a new poly hive is part of the package.

Some of you will be sceptical and worry that it is just a money making scheme. All I can say is that you are wrong, it is the effort of a group of young enthusiasts to make a difference. Providing food and accommodation for the trainees costs money and buying the new equipment to house the bees is expensive. To defray some of those costs a crowdfunding site has been set up which explains the project in detail. You can access it at crowdfunder.co.uk/generationbee

If there is anything about this which you don't like don't just post a criticism, please e-mail golden.age.honey.crowd@gmail.com and we will try to answer your concerns.

If you think that these young people deserve support please consider making a pledge. Spending a whole day working with full time beekeepers will give a hobbyist a new perspective on our craft.