2022-08-31-accounts

Trustees’ Report

Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group Registered Charity No. 1177943 1st September 2021 - 31st August 2022

Introduction

The period covered by this fourth Annual Report to the Charity Commission coincided with Covid restrictions being lifted. The most influential change was in May 2021 when up to 30 people were able to meet outdoors. This meant that work in the Mt Edgcumbe apiary and gardens could resume in a more normal manner. As a result, the charity was able to move forward at a considerably better rate, especially as the introduction of the new Beekeepers Volunteer Programme opened up several new avenues for advancing the charity’s objectives.

Education

Six Beekeeper Volunteers were recruited in June 2021 to help with outdoor tasks in the apiary and its surrounds. This doubled our workforce and brought a wider mix of skills, ideas and experience. In return for their help, the volunteers were offered the chance to learn while working alongside the trustees and to participate in the various citizen science projects being conducted. More formal tuition was also given through Zoom meetings and training events.

Significant changes to beekeeping practices were introduced in April 2022 with a day’s training on using ‘double brooding’ and the original Demaree method of swarm prevention. Implementing these systems increased stock control and quality. This, in turn, raised the standards of the nucleus colonies being produced for the conservation programme. A further effect was the generation of a higher honey yield which could be sold to increase funds.

Much incidental education takes place through contact with the public in the safe enclosure called ‘The Viewing Area’. While inspecting colonies, members of the group are able to converse with visitors through a protective mesh screen, answering questions and demonstrating the work being done. During the year there have been pre-arranged visits with individuals, a home schooling group and a Year 1 class from a local primary school, A group of beginner beekeepers also took part in a practical session at the apiary after completing a theory course with the local BBKA group.

Conservation of the Native Honey Bee

By being situated in a designated Black Bee Reserve, the charity’s efforts are directed towards maintaining and improving the existing stock of native honey bees through a managed hive system. In April 2022 the annual Spring Assessment of all colonies on site was carried out using an established set of criteria devised by the group. The results led to each retained colony being allocated a role in the breeding programme; surplus colonies were re-homed with beekeepers in East Cornwall and West Devon. In this way, the genetic pool is being spread across the area.

Queens which headed colonies representing three breeding lines were used in the new season’s queen-rearing activities. By June 2022, due to various natural

circumstances, only one was proving reliably successful. The trustees have now contacted other local breeders to bring in some new genetic material.

One of the citizen science projects being carried out by the charity involves monitoring varroa mite populations in the hives to see which colonies may be exhibiting ‘hygienic behaviour’. The aim is to use such information to encourage the development of this trait through selective breeding and, in this way, help the native honey bee to evolve and survive this threat.

The data so far shows that certain colonies are more susceptible than others to stress and damage to their immune systems, even though there is a relatively equal chance of varroa mites establishing themselves in a hive. In previous years the advice and conventional practice was to treat prophylactically but our records have shown that only those colonies struggling to cope with the pest need treatment. This project is informing the selection of which queens to breed from.

Pollination

Until more volunteers can be co-opted, projects to support native pollinating insects have been limited. In April 2022, members of the group did a guided walk around Mt Edgcumbe Park’s formal gardens led by the Head Gardener. A record was made of the current forage available and plans made to increase the amount and diversity. A bid which the charity submitted to the National Lottery Fund included an amount for wild flower seeds to be scattered across a meadow which had suffered fire damage.

Funds

The three main sources of income for the charity are collection boxes, re-homed colonies and honey sales. Over each of the past three years, despite the drawbacks of Covid, the group has been able to maintain a steady annual income of between £2,422 and £2,830. This consistency has been an asset in maintaining cash funds at a secure level for ease of budgeting.

Expenditure in the previous financial year (£1,558) was limited since Covid restrictions had reduced the charity’s activities and outgoings. Higher spending on apiary equipment and consumables during the current 2021-2022 financial year has reflected the increased demands due to returning to a full programme of activities. In particular, the decision to move to ‘double brooding’ led to the need to purchase more brood boxes, and the success of the experiment with BS Honey 2 in 1 nucleus boxes encouraged the group to invest in additional ones so as to raise more colonies.

In the spring of 2022 a bid was made to the National Lottery Awards for All England for £9,200 to carry out improvements to the apiary complex. The grant was approved in May 2022 for enlarging and upgrading the beekeepers’ work area; creating a panoramic display in the visitors Viewing Area; and setting up the new nursery area for young colonies. The success of the application heralds a new phase in the development and work of the Mt Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group.

Charity Name No (if any) Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group 1177493

Receipts and payments accounts

Period start date Period end date To 1-Sep-21 31-Aug-22

For the period from

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds

Total funds

to the nearest £

to the nearest £

to the nearest £ to the nearest £

A1 Receipts

----- Start of picture text -----
Grant - 9,200 - 9,200
Donations 2,830 - - 2,830
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
2,830 9,200 - 12,030
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 2,830 9,200 - 12,030
A3 Payments
Apiary Equipment 1,236 - - 1,236
Apiary Consumables 1,666 - - 1,666
Apiary Maintenance 43 - - 43
Education 23 - - 23
Refreshments 20 - - 20
Parking - - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ 2,988 ] - - 2,988
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - -
Total payments 2,988 - - 2,988
Net of receipts/(payments) - 158 9,200 - 9,042
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 4,236 - - 4,236
Cash funds this year end 4,078 9,200 - 13,278
----- End of picture text -----

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

			Unrestricted		Restricted
Categories	Details		funds		funds
B1 Cash funds	Bank Bank Cash	Total cash funds	to nearest £ 3,098 955 25 4,078		to nearest £ 9,200 - - 9,200
	(agree	balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK	OK
			Unrestricted		Restricted
			funds		funds
B2 Other monetary assets	Details		to nearest £ - - - - - -		to nearest £ - - - - - -
B3 Investment assets	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) - - - - -
B4 Assets retained for the	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) -
charity’s own use					- - - - - - - -
B5 Liabilities	Details		Fund to which liability relates		- - - - - Amount due (optional)
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees		Signature	Print	Name
	Annette Quartly		Annette Quartly

----- Start of picture text -----
CC16a
----- End of picture text -----

Last year

to the nearest £

2,830 - - - - - - 2,830

2,830

679 759 115 - - 5 - - - 1,558

1,558 1,272 - - 1,272

Endowment funds

to nearest £ - - - -

OK

Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional)

When due (optional)

Date of approval 9-Feb-23