Calendar

February 9th 2010 A talk on Foulbrood will be given by Gavin Ramsay, SBA at 19:30 at the Inverness BKA apiary at the Scottish Forestry School, Balloch

February 17th  First Group meeting of the year. Commences at 7.30 pm in the GP Room, Tarradale Primary School, Muir of Ord.  Everyone welcome.

February 25th "The World According to Monsanto" will be screened at Eden Court at 6pm. (See note in "News 1st February")

We are a small group of amateur beekeepers based in the Dingwall area but serving the Black Isle northwards to Evanton/Alness in the east and westwards to the West Coast of Ross-shire where we have members.

We meet on the third Wednesday of the month and hold a series of apiary meetings throughout the summer and meet in the Tarradale Primary School, Muir of Ord during the winter. If you would like more information write to or e-mail our secretary . . . or just turn up at one of our meetings to learn more.

For further details of the Association the following e-mail address will reach the Secretary, Mrs. Pam Piercy.  beekeeping "at" tiscali.co.uk

No hobby is more fascinating or rewarding than beekeeping and nothing gives greater pleasure than eating one’s own very localised honey . . . honey that tastes as it should!

What better way of complementing your gardening and environmental skills than by becoming a beekeeper.

Have you ever wondered how bees make honey?

Did you know that honey bees are a very important part of the pollination process?

Throughout the centuries philosophers and naturalists have unfolded many strange and amazing facts about the bee colony and you may be surprised to learn that such a small creature has awakened so great an interest that more has been written about the bee than any other living creature apart from man himself.

Most current estimates indicate that wild bees in the UK have all but disappeared.  Similar declines in wild bee populations have also occurred world-wide.  Historically, of the 100 or so crops that feed the world, eighty percent were pollinated by wild bees.  This is no longer the case.  The demise of the wild bee population is attributable to habitat loss, pests, diseases and pesticide poisoning.

The honey bee is the major carrier of pollen for seeded fruits and just about anything that grows on a vine.  Which means everything from apples to courgettes, including the fruit and nuts eaten by birds and small mammals, need the help of bees.