Welcome to our website

A welcome letter from the new Chairman

My first duty, and pleasure, as chairman of Yorkshire BKA is to pass on the thanks of all members to Dave and Eli Shannon for all of their hard work and enthusiasm over the last few years. Dave has been an inspired chairman and under his leadership YBKA has grown stronger and more forward thinking. While Dave has been chairman, Yorkshire has taken the county trophy at the National Honey Show three times (with thanks to all those members who win so many classes). Dave is a keen show-person and is well on his way to becoming a senior honey judge. Eli also needs our thanks for the time, energy and support she has given to the YBKA web-site. This can be a thankless job when few contribute and you have no idea how well used the site is. Eli has worked hard for YBKA and we thank her for all her efforts. I am sure that both Dave and Eli will continue to support Yorkshire beekeeping for many years to come. Dave continues as a member of the General Purposes Committee (GPC) with responsibility for Honey Shows. He is also an area representative for several district - a duty he takes very seriously indeed.

The GPC has had several projects suggested to it for the coming years and we hope to pursue these for the benefit of all our members. These include a bee breeding programme, a PhD research project, the Northern Associations Network, an increased range of goods available through bulk purchase and possibly a spray liaison project. We also intend to extend the Gift Aid scheme to help district reclaim even more tax revenue and we hope to get more members involved in events at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The GPC is always open to ideas from members about other projects so please speak up. And, of course, our own Bishop Burton Conference will be even better than last year with our key speaker being the person who trained Jamie Ellis - the man who really did get people talking last year - and who is one of the best in the world. You need to be there.

Yorkshire is the largest county association by both area and membership numbers within the BBKA. We need to think big and act big to influence beekeeping in this country. BBKA should represent our views and listen to what we say. To do this we need our members to be active and involved - so please get involved.

Bill Cadmore (Chairman)