That's exactly the point I was making Emma. My honest opinion is that a sustainable, organised system of bee production and beekeeping education is simply not going to arise out of the current association setup based on volunteer labour - the price of a mid season nuc is simply not sufficient return for a season's worth of mentoring in addition to the cost of the bees supplied.
Probably Gavin could answer this for us but I suspect Scotgov are looking at alternatives to such an approach. Perhaps something properly funded to be put in place in the various regions. Perhaps a number of 1/2 jobs throughout the country along the lines of what Bernard Mobus did at Craibstone. Post holders to develop regional beekeeping education and queen/nuc rearing systems. Possibly with access to a fund where they can award grants to individuals carrying out such activities for the greater good. Or funding to set up regional apiaries to implement education and queen/nuc production. I am being optimistic perhaps but they did ask the question so they must be thinking about it.
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