## THE IPSWICH & EAST SUFFOLK BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION First Founded 1880, Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1183025 Via the Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association, an area association of the British Beekeepers’ Association ## The Trustees’ Annual Report # **for the period from 1[st] December 2023 to 30[th] November 2024** ## **This is the report of all ten Trustees, not just of the three who have signed it.** _The Charity Commissioners call for this report and specify its format._ ## _**BACKGROUND INFORMATION**_ This Association was first founded in 1880; in 2014, it became a registered charity. On 1[st] June 2019 we became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. **Correspondence address:** c/o The Old Rectory, Dallinghoo, Woodbridge IP13 0LA. **Bank account details:** Barclays Bank plc, in the name of The Ipswich & East Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association, sort code: 20-44-51, account number: 10570028. ## _**SECTION A - REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS**_ |**Trustees**
Listed inalphabeticalorder|**Responsibility**
(Ifany)|**Date of**
**birth **||**Contact details**| |---|---|---|---|---| |Richard**Allen**
From 10/10/2016|Hon Secretary|09/09/1962||11 Jupiter Road, Ipswich IP4 4NT
01473 719207
secretary.iesbka@suffolkbeekeepers.co.uk| |Barry**Crabtree**
From 15/06/2017|Newsletter|16/10/1958||3 Old Cottages, Tattingstone, Ipswich IP9 2NN
01473 327240
barry.crabtree@gmail.com| |Mark Anthony**Dua**
From7/2/2024||24/9/1964||The Thatch, Stowmarket Road, Ringshall IP14 2HZ
07733 363442
markdua674@gmail.com| |Jackie**McQueen**
From 22/02/2012|Hon Treasurer|04/05/1944||643 Foxhall Road, Ipswich IP3 8NE
01473 420187
jackie.mcqueen@ntlworld.com| |Barrie**Powell**
From 14/10/2015|President|03/01/1935||Bristol House, Bristol Hill, Shotley Gate, Ipswich IP9 1PU
01473 787199
beepowell.powell@gmail.com| 1 |Jeremy**Quinlan**
From 22/02/2012|Chairman|16/08/1937|The Old Rectory, Dallinghoo, Woodbridge IP13 0LA
01473 737700
jeremyq@tiscali.co.uk| |---|---|---|---| |Philip Roy**Ramsey**
From 12/10/2024|Apiary Manager|21/04/1964|47 Colchester Road, Ipswich IP4 3BT
07879 667867
phil_ramsey1@hotmail.co.uk| |Helen Catherine**Thorne**
From03/02/2021|Schools Liaison|13/10/1953|Offton Place, Offton, Ipswich IP8 4SF
07814 506988
hthorne57@gmail.com| |Sally**Thurlow**
From7/2/2024|Mentors for
new
beekeepers|18/3/1958|Old Post Office, Hadleigh Road, Holton St Mary CO7 6NP
01473 312080
salthurlow@gmail.com| |Jonathan James**Tuppen**
From03/02/2021|Safeguarding
Lead|07/07/1961|Hallfield Cottage, Lower Street, Sproughton IP8 3AD
01473 742862
jonjtuppen@gmail.com| |Steve**Willingham**
From 10/10/2018 to 7/2/24||20/12/1955|380 Norwich Road, Ipswich, IP1 4EJ
07521 467247
steve@tktptr.co.uk| We have two other committee members who prefer not to be Trustees. ## **Independent examiner of accounts:** Paul White ## _**SECTION B - STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**_ **Governing document.** The association is governed by its constitution; this was accepted by the Association’s members at our annual general meeting of 6[th] February 2019. **How the charity is constituted.** The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), N[o] 1183025. **Organisational Management.** The Trustees of the Association are responsible for its management and control; they aim to meet at least three times a year, usually more often. Our constitution requires us to have at least three trustees and at most twelve. At each annual general meeting (AGM), one third of the Trustees must retire in turn but may offer themselves for re-election. Trustees are elected by the ordinary members of the Association at our AGM. Should there be a vacancy for a trustee, either the members or the trustees may at any time appoint a new one - see our constitution article 13. ## _**SECTION C - OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**_ **Objects:** Working mainly in Ipswich and East Suffolk, our objects are to: - a. Promote and further the craft of beekeeping. - b. Advance the education of the public in the environmental and economic importance of bees. ## _**Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects:**_ ## _**Charitable Activities**_ When planning the activities of the association, the Trustees bear in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. In carrying out its charitable objects, the association undertakes a wide range of activities. These include responding to many enquiries from the public on a wide variety of bee related subjects, collecting swarms, school visits, shows, talks and demonstrations, advice and help to new and inexperienced beekeepers, classroom and apiary training courses and preparation for national beekeeping examinations and assessments. 2 All activities are carried out voluntarily by the members at no cost. The Trustees thank all those who give their time so freely to help the Association to function. We could not manage without their good will and ready practical assistance; we thank them for their enthusiasm and commitment throughout the year. ## _**Additional details of objectives and activities**_ Together with most of the other beekeepers’ associations in East Anglia, we continue to contribute to the advancement of bee sciences. In conjunction with the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Newcastle and nearly every East Anglian beekeeping association, we supported our third East Anglian Research Student (EARS3) as she worked for her PhD, a study of honey bee nutrition in the effects of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus. This work is now complete and we look forward to reading her thesis. Disappointingly, our next student (EARS4) began work on establishing the results of not treating for Varroa but suffered ill health and had to stop. We hope to find a new beneficiary. ## _**SECTION D - ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE**_ **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** The Association recognises the need to engage with the public and advance their understanding of the importance of bees and beekeeping both to them and to the environment. During the year we assisted at the Suffolk Agricultural Association’s Annual Show and their School Farm Country Fayre - and at many other public events, fetes and open gardens. Eight schools were visited. We continue to provide expert advice and training to HM Prisons, Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill, and to the Ipswich charity ‘ActivLives’; each has an apiary with several colonies of bees. Many members of the public fear bees, particularly honeybees in swarms, and seek information and reassurance by telephone and email. Unfortunately, there is also widespread ignorance of the different bee species so most calls are for either bumble or solitary bees. While we have no great expertise with these, we have helped many with advice. Both the Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association and the British Beekeepers’ Association maintain lists of those prepared to respond to swarm calls; many of our members volunteer for both. Usually, our people make no charge for responding to such calls. The association’s commitment to education and training continues. To members of the public new to beekeeping, we offered our usual introductory course with follow up guidance for learning and practicing the craft. As always, we accept those with no beekeeping experience and offer free training to those who cannot afford the fee. In 2024, 28 people took our course. We continue to focus on the training and development of our members. Although our offer of mentoring for those new to beekeeping continues, in 2024, only 16 new and inexperienced beekeepers asked for mentor support; 14 experienced people volunteered to be mentors. Beginners’ support requirements range from guidance on hive siting and swarm collection to help with hive inspections. While all beginners are encouraged to work towards taking the BBKA’s Basic Assessment and to enter the Suffolk Honey Show classes we need to do more to get them to do both. Between May and August, we opened our Wherstead apiary for teaching every Sunday afternoon. Around 50 attended. Currently there are 4 different types of hive here but we intend to reduce this to two in 2025. Our particular thanks go to our apiary managers, Barrie Powell and Phil Ramsey, for whom this is a considerable commitment. Module examination study groups continued their evening meetings with considerable success. Several other individuals continue to study too. 3 We would like to improve the level of expertise within the association and develop competent knowledgeable teachers of beekeeping, but we have difficulty getting the more experienced but less expert to engage. Liaison is maintained with DEFRA’s APHA National Bee Unit Inspectorate in monitoring the health of the honey bee population and promoting good practice. The trustees want all members will take advantage of these services by registering with the NBU’s “BeeBase”. Our library of some 350 books and DVDs continues to be both popular and well used by our members. On request, books are sent out by post with the borrower responsible for the cost of return. As last year, thirty are currently out on loan. Suggestions for new books are welcome and new books are added regularly. We hope to introduce a new better listing via the Web so our members can see what books we have and encourage their borrowing. In 2017 we signed lease at, literally, a peppercorn rent with Ardencrest Limited, the legal name of the Eastern Counties’ Co-operative Society, moved our apiary to Wherstead Park and installed a hut. While relationships between us are good, we have no security of tenure there, so we continue to look for a small suitable piece of land we might buy for an apiary; so far, we have not found one. The overall membership of the association continues to be buoyant. During the year our membership reached 259, only one fewer than the previous year. The maintenance in numbers allowed us to continue to engage good speakers from a distance; this has enhanced the standards of teaching and training. The general use of Zoom has, however, meant that few are now willing to travel far. We are very grateful to Tim Wilmshurst. one of our members, who has kindly taken on responsibility for engaging speakers and organising talks at least through to summer 2025. We need someone else to take on the job. ## **Meetings:** |**Date**|**Speaker**|**Subject**|**Ten Minute Talk, etc**|**No**| |---|---|---|---|---| |6 Dec|JeremyQuinlan|Wax & Candles||| |**2024**||||| |3 Jan|Dr Jon Tuppen|Bee Sting & Anaphylaxis|Jeremy Quinlan: Soft-set honey|| |7 Feb|John Days|Artificial Insemination of Honey Bees|AGM|43| |6 Mar|Peter Langford|Rearing Queen Honey Bees|Barry Crabtree: Nosema|50| |3 Apr|Peter Dalby|Swarm Control|Brett Baylis: The BBKA's Basic|46| |12 May|Wherstead Apiaryopen everySundayafternoon|||| |29-30 May|Suffolk Show|||| |7 July|Barrie Powell|‘Safari’: SW of Ipswich||| |4 Sep|Sal Thurlow|Auction & Forum||| |2 Oct|Nynke Blomer|Bumble Bees' Interaction with Honey Bees|Jeremy Quinlan: Honey Comb|| |6 Nov|Michael-Thomas Ramsey|Pesticides and Bee Toxicology|BarryCrabtree: Mini nucs|42| 4 ## _**SECTION E - FINANCIAL REVIEW**_ As usual, some three quarters of our expenditure was paid to outside bodies, principally to our central organisation, the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA), Bee Disease Insurance Ltd and Bee Craft Magazine. In 2022, the BBKA increased subscriptions by £2 per year but we decided to absorb half that increase. ||**2023-24**|**2022-23**|**2021-22**| |---|---|---|---| |Income|13,423|31,553|18,919| |Expenditure|11,798|30,149*|18,084| |Surplus/Deficit|**1,259**|**1,403**|**853**| |Cashat bankat start ofyear|9,287|7,883|10,048| |TotalCash Assets atYear End|**10,546**|**9,287**|**7,883**| * In 2023 the I&ES BKA became the custodian of unspent EARS funds amounting to £12,200. **Gift Aid - tax refund:** Our Gift Aid number is ZD09379. In 2023-24 our refund was £1,378. **Reserves policy:** The Trustees would like to buy land for an Association apiary; we are looking for a suitable place at a price we can afford. There were no funds in deficit. ## _**TRUSTEES’ DECLARATION**_ The trustees declare that they have approved this report. Signatures: Full names: Richard Allen Jackie McQueen Jeremy Quinlan Position: Hon Secretary Hon Treasurer Chairman January 2025 5 ## **Ipswich & East Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association Income and Expenditure Account For the Year ended 30 November 2024** |**2024**
**Income**
Subscriptions
8,965.55
£
Research Donations
721.90
£
Other Donations
Gift Aid
1,378.02
£
Course/Training Fees
1,410.00
£
Suffolk Show
230.40
£
Refreshments
36.35
£
Asian Hornet Campaign
315.00
£
Miscellaneous
13,057.22
£
Expenditure BBKA, BDI
6,134.10
£
Direct Debit Costs
69.80
£
Research - EARS
Research
Beecraft
2,413.00
£
Meetings/ Speakers/Hall
480.00
£
Newsletter
15.40
£
Course Expenses
745.99
£
Honey/Apiary Costs
585.14
£
Suffolk Show
20.00
£
Library
196.42
£
Bee Safari
57.38
£
General/Stationery
6.00
£
Miscellaneous
Refund
68.70
£
Asian Hornet Campaign
1,005.90
£
Deposit Account
11,797.83
£
Excess of Income over Expenditure
1,259.39
£
Cash at Bank Start of Year
9,287.35
£
Cash at Bank Year End
10,546.19
£
Deposit EARS account
12,200.00
£
Cash to Deposit Account
Deposit Account
Cash at Bank Start of Year
Cash at Bank Year End (includes EARS)
Total Cash Assets at Year End
Paul White
Jackie McQuee
Accounts Examined
Treasurer|**2023**
9,173.65
£
12,903.40
£
140.57
£
1,431.15
£
1,350.00
£
6,302.47
£
201.15
£
50.80
£
6,213.65
£
67.29
£
300.00
£
2,550.26
£
987.22
£
5.66
£
683.33
£
10.79
£
6,302.47
£
260.24
£
391.32
£
66.20
£
50.80
£
60.00
£
12,200.00
£|31,553.19
£
30,149.23
£
1,403.96
£


EARS Account
12,200.00
£
Deposit account 2024
366.13
£
Interest
**26,059.63**
**£**| |---|---|---| ||7,883.40
£
£ 9,287.35
£ 12,200.00
27,347.31
£
27,713.44
£
n||