The AGM of Somerset Beekeepers Association will be held at the Lysaght Club, Cleeve, nr. Minehead on Saturday March 10th at 4.00pm. Officers of the council are elected at that meeting. Each member is free to make a nomination for any post, but the nomination must be made in writing and sent to the secretary – Suzette Perkins, prior to February 1 st 2012. Her email address is bernieperkins.tengor@tiscali.co.uk

In the event that no nominations are received from the general membership, the following nominations will be made to the Council. Further information and detail is available from your divisional secretaries.

SBKA Nomination of Officers 2012- 2013

All nominations must be made in writing and signed by the nominee and sent to the Secretary by the 1 st February 2012

SBKA Officers and Contacts

President -- Ken Edwards. ken @bush -cottage.freeserve.co.uk

Vice President- David Morris. d.g.morris@ btinternet.com

Chairman - Jackie Mosedale jackie@jmosedale .wanadoo.co.uk

Secretary - Mrs Suzette Perkins. bernieperkins.tengor @tiscali.co.uk

Treasurer - Mrs Gail Johnson. gail.johnson2 @virgin.net

BBKA Delegate - Pat Lehain patricklehain@ googlemail.com

Bee Diagnostic Officer - Roy White. wennets @hotmail.com

Education Officer - Mrs Caroline Butter. educationofficer @somersetbeekeepers.org.uk

Examinations Secretary - Mrs Bridget Knutson -bridget knutson@yahoo.co.uk

Newsletter Editor - Richard Bache. newsletter @somersetbeekeepers.org.uk

Publicity Officer - David Morris. d.g.morris@ btinternet.com

Special Funding Officer - Ken Edwards. ken @bush-cottage.freeserve.co.uk

Web Master - Phil Stevens. webmaster @somersetbeekeepers.org.uk

Year Book Editor - Stewart Gould yearbook @somersetbeekeepers.org.uk

Somerset Beekeepers' Association - a brief profile

A Somerset Beekeepers’ Association has been in existence almost continuously since 1876. It was in 1905, however, that a young schoolmaster at Weston-super-Mare, the young L.E. Snelgrove, became the Honorary Secretary of the former Bristol, Somersetshire and South Gloucestershire Bee-keepers Association. He set about re-forming it into one that was viable, effective in fulfilling its function, and covering the whole of the county.

Snelgrove established it on such a firm footing that in 2006 the Association will celebrate its centenary, having promoted the craft and fulfilled the changing needs of beekeepers through two world wars and two major crises caused firstly by the dreaded “Isle of Wight” disease and more recently through the arrival in this country of the Varroa mite.

At first, the Association comprised seven branches. By 1920 there were twenty branches, and Snelgrove moved to place the Association on a more representative and efficient footing. The rules were re-drawn and the branches were placed into five Divisions: Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central. This worked well for a number of years. The membership continued to grow and other Divisions were formed, starting with the North-Eastern Division. We were fortunate in having the great Thomas W. Cowan as President.

During the late 1940s there were over 1600 members in eleven Divisions, but since then, mostly in line with national trends, there has been a gradual decline. In the mid-1970s, following the Maude Report and the creation of the County of Avon, the three Divisions within this new county formed their own Association and an amicable split occurred which reduced our membership considerably. Even so, by the 1990s there were just below 500 members in thirteen Divisions, the most thriving branches having secured divisional status. In the interests of efficiency Council took steps to reduce this number, but there was much resistance to this. The current number is eleven, varying greatly in size, degree of activity and with a considerable overlap.

Less people keep bees these days but Somerset Beekeepers’ Association, though much reduced in membership has not suffered the same fall experienced by most associations over recent years. This success is attributed to a strong team of officers with their own specialist areas of expertise, such as education, promotions, examinations and gift aid. These officers constantly promote the craft, attending events such as shows and rallies, organizing demonstrations, classes for beginners and specialist classes to assist beekeepers in their management techniques under the less favourable circumstances than those existing formerly. This constant drive not only encourages people to take up the craft, but brings new members to the association and encourages them to remain as members, thus fulfilling the Association’s constitutional objective “to advance the craft of apiculture, and to promote and foster the education of its members, and of the public”.