Tim Evans (Letters, 7 December) has put a bee in my bonnet, saying that the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) frowns on the pioneering spirit of beekeepers. What unfair words!
I help the BBKA run a scheme called Adopt a Beehive, for members of the public to learn about beekeeping and support honeybees. They can adopt a beehive from one of 10 regions in the UK, each with a BBKA beekeeper who reports on the progress of their bees and beekeeping activity. Anyone who has adopted a beehive from the north-west will be following in the beekeeping lives of Janet and Fred. Fred, with the Lune Valley Community Beekeepers, is a pioneer of the long hive and the DZ hive, and also a prolific planter of Pollinator Patches across the north-west.
Through regular updates we share news of Fred’s great work in developing new approaches to beekeeping and ways in which members of the public can join in helping honey bees and all our pollinating insects.
Oh, and just a thought… Adopt a Beehive makes a great Christmas present – £36 a year, with a jar of pure British honey, a pocket guide to the honeybee and three updates a year from your chosen beekeeper. Visit adoptabeehive.com
Nicky Smith
Banbury, Oxfordshire
• The BBKA is a broad church made up of local associations across the country who train, mentor and support local beekeepers. Any association can teach any method it likes, although most new beekeepers are taught a standard method using framed beehives whose core design essentially dates back to early Victorian times. This is simply because these methods have been proved to work over hundreds of years and are best for our native bees. In this climate (unlike Africa) our local bees need to stay warm over long, damp, cold winters and simple thermodynamics determines that a relatively tall space that traps heat vertically keeps the bees warm and healthy during the long winter months.
As an organisation, we are focused on developing new beekeepers (especially young people) to this wonderful pastime that is both good for the beekeepers and the environment. Any beekeeper can keep their bees any way they like, but we do promote a science-based approach and sponsor key research into understanding bees and their pests and diseases as well as lobbying against the loss of natural habitat and over-use of pesticides which is bad for all our native pollinators, especially our beloved honeybees.
Simon Cavill
Trustee, British Beekeepers Association
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
