John Hendrie

I have been a member of the BBKA Examinations Board for many years having been the Board Secretary from 1991 to 2006 and am currently the Moderator. I achieved my Master Beekeeper certificate in 1986 and have been heavily involved in beekeeping education ever since, running courses and lecturing widely on bees and beekeeping. I am the General Secretary of the National Honey Show and have been on the committee for 35 years and helped with the organisation of the honey show for that time. I am also a Director for Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd so is looking after the interests of beekeepers. I have demonstrated continuity in the various jobs undertaken and enjoy helping beekeepers.Email hereLink trustee for:Alnwick; Tyneside; Newcastle; Hexham; Surrey

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Clare McGettigan

I have been beekeeping since 2010, finally getting to satisfy an interest in bees that I have held since childhood and, of course, they have not disappointed! I hold the Basic Assessment, Bee Health Assessment and passed the Advanced Theory Certificate.   I have and continue to love learning about honeybees and always enjoy being able to train others to ‘share the passion’. Professionally I worked in the Pharmaceutical Market Research sector for more than 30 years in many roles including Global Marketing Director and Software Development Director. I was fortunate enough to take early retirement and can now use skills I developed in my working career to support the BBKA and, in particular, it’s education and communications activities. Email hereLink trustee for:Chesterfield; Rutland; Sedbergh; Sheffield; Derbyshire; Lincolnshire

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Jane Medwell

I learnt beekeeping from my mother in the 1970s, when the activity was rather different. In 1999 I set up my own apiary in Warwickshire and joined WLBKA. I have found learning about changes and developments in beekeeping an ongoing enjoyment. In my early years of beekeeping, I kept around 40 hives and learnt a good deal about keeping bees on a larger scale. However, I realised that my interests are in the study of beekeeping rather than honey production.  Since 2010 I have reduced my hive numbers to a maximum of a dozen in two or three apiaries near my home. This has allowed me to experiment with methods of queen rearing and do more training and education activities at branch, county, and national levels.I have been a Master Beekeeper since 2013. I remain committed to keeping my knowledge relevant and am currently studying for the BBKA microscopy certificate and NDB. My professional experience is as an Associate Professor in Education with a special interest in primary and i...

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Jenny Morgan

  I spent all of my working life in education. I am a Physics graduate and went into teaching after completing my teaching qualifications. I spent a short time working in secondary schools in Oxfordshire before moving to Botswana where I worked in local schools in Gaborone and Francistown before being recruited to work at the University of Botswana lecturing on B.Ed. and B.Ed. Nursing courses. After 9 years in Botswana I returned to the UK and continued to teach, becoming Head of Science and also working for University of Reading on their science teacher training course. On my return to the UK when my daughters were older I became a volunteer canoe coach and a DoE leader. As a result of these activities I lead a gold DoE expedition to Canada. My beekeeping began when my daughter kept asking for a hand with her bees. As I learned more I decided I would do an introductory course and get some bees and I have not looked back - I am hooked. I have spent a lot of time and energy tryi...

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Howard Pool

Married with 4 grown children, it was my granddaughter who re-sparked my interest in beekeeping. I joined the 'Introduction to Beekeeping' course run by the High Wycombe branch of the BBKA in 2013 and have kept my own bees since March 2014. Throughout my working life till subsequent retirement in 2006 I was responsible for the running and change management of a number of companies both in the UK and overseas. I became a trustee of the BBKA at the January 2015 ADM.  Since that period we have worked hard to generate improved reporting, control, simplicity, and transparency within the finance area. 2017 showed the first surplus in the account for 4 years - and a modest improvement on budget commitments. Email hereLink trustee for:Buckinghamshire; Essex; Hertfordshire; Middlesex; Northamptonshire; Suffolk

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Jo Widdicombe

I ran my own business for 35 years, a retail food shop in Cornwall, and I now run a beekeeping business producing honey, nucs and queens for sale with 2 employees and 150+ hives. I started beekeeping in 1974 and worked as a bee inspector for 5 years in the Southwest Region.I believe beekeeping has an increasingly important role in contributing to a sustainable system of food production and to biodiversity in the natural environment. I am keen to see beekeeping develop long-term sustainable methods to ensure a healthy and hardy population of honey bees with the qualities which beekeepers wish to see in their bees. Email here Link trustee for:Cornwall; Dorset; Cornwall West; Bournemouth; Devon; Isle of Wight

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IMYB - 2019

8th July 2019 This year the IMYB was held in Banská Bystrica Slovakia and our BBKA team representing England consisted of: Left to Right:  William Akers - age 14 from Chesham, Bucks, Ben Sullivan - age 15 from Norfolk and Natalie Philips - age 14 from Liverpool We linked up with the other home teams from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at Vienna Airport whilst we waited for the coach to collect us and many other teams before we embarked on a 4 hour journey to the venue. This year was the biggest ever, with 30 individual countries sending teams from as far away as Canada, Australia, the Lebanon and Egypt. As usual each of our teens was assigned into a team of around 6 - 7 individuals with a wide range of abilities, beekeeping knowledge and languages. It’s therefore essential that each member is able to get on with their new team and so we deliberately select team members from the BBKA who are confident and outgoing. Over the next three days the new teams ta...

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Bees Needs Week

Bees Needs Week:    18 - 24th July 2022 The BBKA will be sharing our favourite beekeeping moments on our social media: sharing our members photos of their beekeeping and our most popular stories from the last 12 months. Follow us on social media. These are the five simple actions you can take to help pollinators and make sure their populations are sustained: YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPq2VxL8M1E Our Chair Stephen Barnes has been reflecting on how we can all help pollinators for Bees Needs Week YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHIK5x8eMXo What is Bees Needs Week? Bees Needs Week is an annual event coordinated by Defra, working alongside charities, businesses, conservation groups and academic institutions to raise awareness of bees and other pollinators. Bees and other pollinators are vital for growing lots of our favourite foods and for plants to flourish in our fields and gardens   ...

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