## **Trustees’ Report**
Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group Registered Charity No. 1177943 1st September 2022 - 31st August 2023
## **Introduction**
This fifth Annual Report to the Charity Commission covers an intense period of activity. Having received the grant of £9.200 from the National Lottery Awards for All England in the spring of 2022, the improvements outlined in the bid had to be completed by May 2023. This meant any outdoor work had to be carried out over the winter when the bees weren’t flying. Also, any work directly affecting the colonies, had to be managed carefully so as not to cause undue stress which could hinder their development and lower their resilience.
These goals were largely met, resulting in an enlargement and upgrading of the beekeepers’ work area, establishment of a new ‘nursery’ area for young colonies, and an enhancing of the Visitors’ Viewing Area. The Nursery Garden now adjoins the main apiary which reduces time spent in travelling to the previous mating site. in addition, it makes it much easier to access equipment and stores, and to liaise with other beekeepers on the main site.
## **Conservation of the Native Honey Bee**
During the preparation of the new mating apiary over the winter, a number of colonies were kindly fostered by volunteers. These were assessed in the spring and either rehomed or absorbed into the main apiary. Reviewing all the stock, it was decided that the colonies had improved enough to persevere with the existing breeding lines without bringing in any new genetic strains.
This year, colony increase was largely due to making splits. The warm spring and consistent nectar flow meant the colonies expanded at a quicker rate than expected so the team took advantage of the high population numbers and production of swarm cells to create nucs. The fair weather continued into the summer, leading to a good percentage of successful open mating and production of an encouraging honey crop.
## **Education and Community Engagement**
The continued monitoring of each main colony’s Varroa mite drop provided interesting information about their state of development and health. The led to much debate on how to use this data to guide decisions on whether to apply treatment or not - and, if treatment was deemed necessary, which kind to choose. The group’s findings, together with international research and expert views, presented a very mixed picture. While no clear conclusions were made, the Varroa Monitoring Project and general discussions have proved very educative.
The £9,200 grant from National Lottery Awards for All England was maximised by careful spending on new materials and recycling materials where possible. The majority of the improvement work was carried out by volunteers, with professionals brought in for specialised work such as electricity, internet connection, plumbing and
drainage. A bonus from this project is the expansion of our local network to include skilled trades people and non-beekeeper volunteers.
In February 2023 the MtECBG hosted a visit requested by B4, an organisation that promotes the native dark honey bee through sustainable beekeeping. The group included Directors of B4 CIC, associated academics and media contacts. The visit enabled all parties to have a better understanding of overlapping interests and how collaborative working could be of mutual benefit. These links have been pursued in the period covered by this report with longer term outcomes anticipated.
As well as new partnerships being forged, stronger links have been developed with Liskeard Beekeepers who are members of the Cornwall Beekeeping Association and the BBKA. Beginner and Improver beekeepers were welcomed to join in the activities at the Mt Edgcumbe Apiary; by extending their beekeeping experiences, a greater understanding of beekeeping issues and skills was gained by both sides.
## **Pollination**
The National Lottery grant included a budget for improving information displays in the Public Viewing Area to encourage awareness of native pollinators and ways of helping them thrive. it also enabled the purchase of wild flower meadow seeds which were planted in the Mt Edgcumbe Park Grounds.
One of the Directors of B4 had introduced the MtECBG Trustees to the iNaturalist app which can be used as part of a ‘BioBlitz’ project. The app was subsequently used to set up a data base to record flowering plants and insect pollinators in the wider parkland. This is the first step to establishing forage availability and therefore work out the best ways to support our honey bees and other native pollinators in the Mt Edgcumbe area.
## **Funds**
Very little new equipment was needed to be purchased during this report period. An inventory showed that sufficient kit had been built up over the last 4 years to maintain the activity level forecast.
Consumables such as wax foundation sheets, medicinal treatments and feed were still needed. The arrangement with Tesco to collect free sugar from damaged bags was becoming unsustainable so it was transferred to a local bee farmer. In return he has agreed that, when he converts it into syrup feed he will meet MtECBG needs for no cost.
During the summer the apiary was visited by representatives from Songbird Naturals Ltd. This Somerset-based company produces a natural beeswax-based massage medium as an alternative to water-based oils and lotions. The original hope was that MtECBG could supply Songbird with native honey bee wax, but it soon became clear that it would not be possible to produce the quantities required. Having been impressed by the shared ethical approaches, however, the company decided to sponsor MtECBG by donating £100 on a monthly basis. This started in June 2023.
## **Conclusion**
The year 2022-2023 has been a very varied and demanding one for the charity but the Trustees and Volunteers have risen to the challenge. Stronger foundations have been established for the MtECBG and progress has been made on all aspects of our charitable objective.
||**Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group**|**Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group**|**Mount Edgcumbe Cornish Bee Group**|**1177493**|**1177493**|**1177493**|**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**For the period**
**from**|Period start date
**01-Sep-22**|**To**||Period end date
**31-Aug-23**|||
|||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||||||
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**540**
**300**
**1,896**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,736**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,736**
**52**
**212**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**264**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**264**
**2,472**
**-**
**4,078**
**6,550**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,673**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,673**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,673**
**- 7,673**
**-**
**9,200**
**1,527**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**540**
**300**
**1,896**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,736**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,736**
**52**
**212**
**7,673**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,937**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,937**
**- 5,201**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Donations|**540**||||||**2,830**|
|Sponsors|**300**||||||**-**|
|ApiarySales|**1,896**||||||**-**|
|Grant|**-**||||||**9,200**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**2,736**||||||**12,030**|
|||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**||||||||
||**-**|||||||
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**||||||||
||||||||**12,030**|
|||||||||
|
ApiaryEquipment|**52**||||||**1,236**|
|ApiaryConsumables|**212**||||||**1,666**|
|ApiaryImprovements|**-**||||||**-**|
|ApiaryMaintenance|**-**||||||**43**|
|Education|**-**||||||**23**|
|Refreshments|**-**||||||**20**|
|Parking|**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**264**||||||**2,988**|
|||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases (see table)**||||||||
|**,**|**-**|||||||
||**-**|||||||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**||||||||
||||||||**2,988**|
|||||||||
||**2,472**|**- 7,673**|**-**||**- 5,201**||**9,042**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**4,078**|**9,200**|**-**||**13,278**||**-**|
||**6,550**|**1,527**|**-**||**8,077**||**9,042**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
09/01/2025
1
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B1 Cash funds**|**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Bank
Bank
Cash
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Signature
John Chadwick|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**5,245**
**1,527**
**1,272**
**-**
**33**
**-**
**6,550**
**1,527**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
John Chadwick|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
||John Chadwick|John Chadwick|31-Jul-24|
|||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
09/01/2025
2