# General beekeeping > Scaling up and marketing >  Bee farmers in Perth

## gavin

This afternoon the Scottish Government arranged a training and discussion afternoon for the bee farmers in Scotland.  If any have stumbled across this site as a result of my shameless promotion of it, welcome!  I had in mind that we'd use this part of the forum for those who already make part or all of their income from bees.

The main point of the afternoon was to discuss bee health issues in general, and also to go through the plans for EFB-infected operations in 2010.

There was also a brief discussion of the Food Standards Agency Scotland's consultation on testing for residues following last year's application of oxytetracycline to colonies at risk from EFB.  There is a link to today's news release on our Home page.

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## The Drone Ranger

http://www.heather-hills.com/adopt-o...&category_id=5

I'm looking for sponsorship along these lines
about £150 per hive
You get a picture of a bee 
A picture of a honey jar
and a sprig of white heather
A great deal and you will help me save the honey bee for posterity
Yippee for shameless exploitation of the gullible public ,children, and the bewildered

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## gavin

LOL!  Wind them up and see if that brings them on the forum, eh?!  To be fair, I think that the BBKA and maybe one of the fringe beekeeping groups were there before them.

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## lindsay s

D R you forgot to add that for an extra £10 you can name your own bee :Big Grin:

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## The Drone Ranger

Lol! your right Lindsay  I missed that trick

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## snimmo243

For £15 when it dies after 6 weeks we can send it to you in a matchbox and you can bury it in your garden

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## gavin

Changed my mind about what to say there.  Anyway, you can't say that they're not enterprising.

I wonder what is in this given the problems Heather Hills have had: 'Personalised letter of introduction explaining the plight of the honey bee.'

For the list of goodies, the day beekeeping with Heather Hills, and the pub lunch I could see folk thinking they were getting a decent gift.  Might even like it myself .....

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## The Drone Ranger

Generally the public want to help save the honey bees and do their bit
My concern is that if they are taken for mugs then all the good will can disappear very quickly
I wouldn't expect schoolkids to give up their pocket money buying sugar for someones hives
There are people who are proud to have got them to do this though
It's not sensible or fair to cash in on goodwill
We wouldn't ignore fake charity bags asking for donations of clothes etc
I think it's right to expect all beekeepers not to try and con the public
If people want to help honey bees they can grow a few plants and not spray insecticides around the place that's enough

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## drumgerry

I think you've hit the nail on the head there DR.  There is a lot of goodwill just now regarding all things bee.  And seemingly plenty of people out there happy to wring what they can from it.  It's only a question of time though.  The bubble will have to burst some time.  And my hope is that before it does something worthwhile comes out of it for the long term.  Whoops Gavin that's me back on the hobby horse again despite me having eaten up a page and a bit of this month's Scottish Beekeeper already with it!

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## gavin

> I wouldn't expect schoolkids to give up their pocket money buying sugar for someones hives
> There are people who are proud to have got them to do this though
> It's not sensible or fair to cash in on goodwill


You must be thinking of this: 
http://www.lennoxherald.co.uk/lifest...4557-25846733/

It was an embarrassment to the local beekeepers I spoke to. That comes from the amateur community though, largely one man, and not the commercial.  

Yes Gerry, enjoyed your letter.  My partner thought the sentiments very close to my own.  DR doesn't know what he's missing  :Wink: .  Can probably guess though.

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## The Drone Ranger

Yes exactly
Exploitation

Can't join SBA yet till they recognise part of a year means part of a years fees

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## gavin

Shall we remind you in December, then?  Just in time for your Christmas list  :Wink:

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## gavin

> To be fair, I think that the BBKA and maybe one of the fringe beekeeping groups were there before them.


It is coming back to me now.  A couple of senior SBA people volunteered their services for this scheme by the English BBKA.  I'm pretty sure that Heather Hills followed them down this route:

http://www.bbka.org.uk/about/adopt_a_beehive

Could have been wrote better though: '_You will also receive a welcome pack full off bee goodies including: ...._ '

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## The Drone Ranger

Yes back in December 
Its a bit crazy not to have either individual renewal dates like any other subscription or part year payment

This "adopt a hive stuff" is just wrong
Buy British honey
Put charity stickers on like bees for development
Sell packets of bee friendly seeds 
Encourage people to come along to beekeeping events
Advise folk about what not to spray etc 
Tell people bees wont sting their pets to death etc
All these are positive 

Cowpat hives Not good
Money for nothing sponsorship very bad
What next Tesco "sponsor a shelf stacker" ?

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## drumgerry

> Yes Gerry, enjoyed your letter.


Thanks Gavin.  I feel happier now it's been said and in print.  it remains to be seen whether there'll be any reaction forthcoming.  I get the feeling that it's only us on the forum that are bothered about this.

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## gavin

One of the sad things about this was that a few individuals in the SBA leadership were making decisions about how to approach this without the slightest idea of what the membership thought of it.  Our LA had a brief discussion on the SG consultation on subsidised 'restocking' and the rest of the EU Apiculture Programme (this thing we're discussing now was purely Scottish Government funded though, I'm not clear whether or not the use of the EU funds has yet been set) at a winter meeting without anyone pushing any particular line or campaigning for or against.  The show of hands was very strongly for preferring Amm/near Amm if possible and against subsidising imports for bee farmers.  From what I heard other LAs in the area held similar views, and there is a lot of overlap between LA and SBA memberships.

On the Amm/near Amm question, I did take part in SBA Executive discussions on this at and around one Executive meeting when I was standing in for Phil Moss, and there was agreement to bring this to the Council meeting so that the wishes of the membership could be discussed.  Maybe the stance of the organisation regarding subsidising imports for bee farmers (at least one of whom managed to lose almost all his stock while the amateurs in the area fared much better on average) should also be brought before Council so that it can be aired, discussed, and, if possible, voted upon to guide future interactions of the organisation with government. 

What I'm saying is that I would think the SBA membership has diverse views but is generally Amm-sympathetic rather than Amm-mad, and anti-import with a degree of sympathy for those who try to make their income from bees in Scotland.  But I don't know.  Needs testing in November I think.  Who knows, maybe me and Eric would be on the same side for a change.

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## Jimbo

After reading the link to the Lennox Herald can I just say that the Helensburgh Association had no part in this sugar scam. We were asked by the CABA bee breeding group to donate spare nucs or colonies to this project, which I think the committee or our members at the time did donate bees. We were also asked if we were willing to help in a workparty to get the apiry site sorted out. When some of our members were then looking for bees from this bee breeding project they were asked to pay £70 for a nuc. As far as I know it is now defunct

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