The British Beekeepers Association Spring Convention 2024 kicked off for the 46th year on Friday 12th April at Harper Adams University. This was during a special year marking the 150th anniversary of the BBKA which was celebrated by all attendees receiving a commemorative hive tool and being able to buy other BBKA merchandise. The event was also visited by the King’s representative in Shropshire – Mrs Anna Turner – the Lord-Lieutenant – who planted a tree to mark the occasion. She also visited some of the sessions and was gifted with some Vanishing Cream and Cerate that we had made during the Dr Sara Robb workshop – ‘History in the Making’.
The convention is a mix of lectures, workshops and seminars with a Trade Show on the Saturday. You can choose to just attend the Trade Show, but it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the expertise and experience of all of the presenters – as well as meet like-minded people.
The sessions range from free lectures that are provided on a first-come first-served basis such as ‘A taste of honey’ by Peter Lewis, who was one of the judges at our Honey Show, and ‘My beekeeping year through Monofloral Honey’ by well-known You-Tuber Stewart Spinks. There are also expert panels proving a Q&A session such as ‘Managing Varroa’.
Some of the workshops are at an additional charge and are more interactive. ‘Buzzing Bites’ was a 3 hour session by Rachel Hilton and Zoe Harrison; both lecturers at the university where we made Honey Gelato, Honey Focaccia, Hazelnut and Honey Chocolate spread – with takeaway recipes. ‘A Journey through UK Mead’ was delivered by Luke and Suzie Hutchinson from the Northumberland Honey Company with at least 10 samples of different meads including their award winning sparkling mead.
There really were so many sessions planned and delivered; ‘Fit2Fight Hornets’, ‘Novices guide to swarm management & control’, ‘Queen rearing on a small scale’, ‘Making honey ferments’, ‘Bee vigilant: A buzzing journey into bee health’ and ‘Cut comb, chunk honey & sections’ are just a few examples.
As well as all of the sessions, there are the stands promoting businesses, charities and associations such as Bees Abroad, the BBKA Exam Board where you can buy publications and past exam papers and the National Honey show.
This annual event is definitely worth attending and a big thanks to all volunteers and university staff that contribute so much time and effort ensuring that this big event runs as well as it does.
