Invitation to Asian Hornet meeting

ASIAN HORNET - Open Meeting 
 2.00pm - 5.00pm on Saturday, 20th January, 2018 
in Harberton Parish Hall, Harberton, Totnes, TQ9 7SD 

Our guest speaker will be Martyn Hocking from Woolacombe, 
who will be talking about his experience of finding Asian Hornets in his apiary.
After which, there will be a discussion about a range of issues that have arisen. 
   
Beekeepers from across SW England and representatives of organisations with a special interest in the Asian Hornet have been invited. 
Parking is available, though to help reduce numbers of cars, if possible, please share lifts.  
Afternoon Tea and Cakes
 
Please contact Jill & Ken Beagley if you would like to attend.
jill@armchairpuppets.co.uk 
 
As we are expecting much interest in this meeting, we would appreciate being contacted by anyone wishing to attend, so can have sufficient refreshments available at the hall during the meeting and we can put anyone needing accommodation in touch with the local B&B’s in the area. 
 
A follow up article has since been written by Martyn, in which he makes various suggestions about how beekeepers can be given better support should they find themselves in his situation. This second article will be printed in the December/January edition of ‘Beekeeping - Devon Beekeepers’ magazine’. 
 
Martyn feels that there is only a short time in which to get organised and prepared for the arrival of the next Asian Hornet queen, if we are to have any chance of keeping this non-native species out of the UK. 
 
We have invited beekeepers from across SW England, in the hope that representatives from each county in the S.W. are present to share experiences and thoughts for the future and there are already beekeepers coming from Cornwall, Dorset, South Gloucestershire and Bath. We would be most grateful if you could please advertise the above information to all beekeepers in your branch. 
 
We are also hoping that representatives from other organisations with an interest in the Asian Hornet will be present at the meeting and we are in touch with the Devon Non-Native Species Initiative.
 
We look forward to hearing from you. 
 
Best wishes, 
 
Jill & Ken Beagley

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