Today we had the first of the early winter meetings under the new SCIO constitution, the Local Association Secretaries meeting in the morning and the members' Consultation meeting in the afternoon. The room was full and the discussion lively, friendly and respectful. In the morning we had a chance to meet Michelle, the successful candidate for the new Development Officer post. She starts properly in January.

Here's Julian demonstrating his excellent new tool for allowing LAs (OK, ABAs) to advertise offers of swarm collection in a central place with a map to guide people to the relevent LA. Watch out for it coming online before next beekeeping season.

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An amazing 85 members passed their Basic Beemaster this year (should it be called the Basic Beekeeping Certificate for gender neutrality?). Many more were up today to collect various more advanced certificates. Here's one.

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They were even paying attention up the back.

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You know that blank card Dr Who has which displays an appropriate ID to any official who questions his presence in a sensitive spot? Well, we now have our own Professor who, it seems, has a technology that works in reverse. He can flash up advanced but clear virology slides for the masses yet when you try to record them all you see is a white screen . He is bursting with enthusiasm, it is going to be good to have him around. Great to hear all about DWV, bees and Varroa at the end of the afternoon. OK, the picture isn't clear but the curtains were drawn.

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And finally, with both of their spouses elsewhere, our current and past Presidents risked engaging in a little on-stage smooching!

Treat this as the 2015 CAPTION COMPETITION if you like . What was Phil whispering in her ear?!

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