Chairpersons Report
Dear Members, As I conclude my first year as Chair, I want to begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have supported me throughout this journey. Transitioning into this role has been both rewarding and challenging, and I am grateful for the guidance and encouragement I’ve received along the way. One of the unexpected hurdles this year was simply learning the ropes — everything from navigating new systems, setting up a new email address, to getting authorisations sorted for a new bank account. These administrative tasks might seem minor, but they were essential to ensure that everything ran smoothly as I took on my responsibilities. We have been reviewing and getting all our policies in place and I hope we will have these all sorted very soon. Please bear with us as we get to gripes with all of the legal obligations which are part of running a voluntary, charitable organisation such as ours. We are trying to get it right and safeguarding is the priority and it is everyones responsibility, I want it to be right for every association big or small. From the outset, I set myself the objective of visiting as many of our associations as possible. So far, I have had the privilege of attending meetings at Roe Valley, Three Rivers, Fermanagh, Clogher Valley, Randalstown, Killinchy, and Mid Antrim. I hope these visits have strengthened our connections, and I look forward to engaging with more of you in the coming year. If you would like me to attend one of your meetings in the upcoming year, please don’t hesitate to let me know. This year has also been marked by a very successful conference, with over 400 attendees. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and I am pleased to announce that next year’s conference, scheduled for the 14th and 15th of February 2025, looks even more exciting. The conference team headed up by Brian deserves our recognition for the incredible work they do each year in ensuring the event runs smoothly. The highest level of speakers from across the globe which John always seems to persuade, and the traders who also attend and always attract more members than ever, along with the excellent workshops. The conference does not simply happen, it takes a dedicated team of volunteers who give up their time to ensure we have the best. I know from talking to other organisations that we have one of the best conferences on this Island and every year it just keeps getting better! However, the conference is run for your benefit I do hope you will attend in February and give some of your support and help to the team to make 2025 even better than before. Well, done team and thank you again to Brian our conference manager I would also like to highlight the remarkable work of the Education Team, now in their third year. Their dedication to the development and implementation of our new education programme has been nothing short of outstanding. Meeting every Monday afternoon for hours and meticulously preparing for each session, their commitment is something we should all be proud of. The programme they have created is of a gold-star standard, and their continued efforts to support tutors and assessors are truly commendable. The education programme remains a living, breathing initiative, constantly evolving to meet the needs of our members. A special thank you to Susie Hill, who has led this team with such energy and vision, and along with Wendy, Ethel, Ester, Robert and John who have provided invaluable support throughout this journey which continues as we speak. It would not be possible to have an education programme without all the tutors and assessors who also give up their time to support the team and give valuable feed back to the Education team. As we look back on the past year, it's important to acknowledge that while we have made great strides we must also acknowledge there are still many challenges ahead. One of the most pressing issues is the lack of bee inspections and bee inspectors and the lack of government support for managing notifiable diseases. This remains a critical area where more proactive measures are needed to safeguard our beekeeping community. We must continue to push for improvements in this area while ensuring our own procedures are regularly reviewed to
maintain best practices. I was delighted with another successful year of bee health workshops well attended and our guest “expert”Jack Silberrad, was well received. He has agreed to come back with other talks in 2025 already arranged for 21st, 22nd and 23rd of March 2025 ( a date for your Diary). The ever-growing threat of the Asian Hornet is also alarming, and we will continue to press the government on what the plans are along with what actions are in place to ensure we control what is coming our way. Now I’m sure you agree we do not believe we are being consulted on what those plans might be and how we could if given the opportunity, be able to support and help with the plans and efforts. I would like to set up a small action team to consult on the actions required on how to keep the pressure on the government. This team would report to the executive at each meeting. On a more positive note, I am thrilled we have once again a team of young beekeepers representing us this year in Dubai supported by Susie and Charlene. Thanks again to Randalstown for allowing us to run a very successful young beekeepers event which 20 young people attended. There are certainly some fantastic up and coming, talented young beekeepers for the future. I want to share some exciting news: we have been awarded the opportunity to host the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers in 2026. This is a major achievement and an event of significant scale, which will present both exciting opportunities and logistical challenges. It will require careful planning, coordination, and most importantly, the dedication of volunteers. Again I would like to set up a small committee of people who would like to assist with several actions that will be required. This coming week we have the IMYB organisers coming to Northern Ireland and they will be checking out our facilities, along with what we are offering as an event in 2026. For this event, and indeed for all the initiatives and challenges we face, we will need your support — whether through volunteering, fundraising, or simply lending your voice and energy to our efforts. This is a community-driven organisation, and your backing is essential to our continued success. As we gear up for this prestigious international event and continue to address the challenges in our sector, I encourage everyone to get involved. With your help, we can overcome any obstacles and make 2026 a landmark year for our organisation. Finally, can I thank the trustees for all your support and help without whom the organisation would not function. I want to thank Susie Hill as our outgoing President for all your support and I know you will continue to be a great support to the UBKA, you have been very instrumental in what the UBKA is today. To Les our Treasurer, & Nicola our secretary thanks to you both for your patience and help. David Morgan thank you for all your technical help and support from a techno fobe!! In closing, I look forward to the year ahead, confident that together we can as the UBKA, continue to build on the successes of this past year.
Valentine Hodges
Executive chair UBKA 2024
Secretary’s Report
Hard to believe another year has passed already. Not much to report on my end… This year we finally got direct-to-member emails set up. I ask that each association continue to provide members' email addresses so I can inform them about upcoming events, diseases, invasive species etc. Each email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom, so if you’d rather not hear from us, you can remove yourself from the mailing list. I want to congratulate the Education Committee on another successful year. Your dedication is a huge asset to the UBKA. I want to thank Valentine and Les for all their hard work. We meet monthly to discuss numerous matters within the UBKA while having a bit of craic. I want to thank Tom Williamson for delivering a
fantastic disease webinar. I want to congratulate Susie and John for organising a very successful microscopy workshop. Everyone who attended gave excellent feedback and I hope this is something we can continue to offer members. Finally, a few points I need to share: • Booking for the 2025 Conference is now live • If your association hasn’t given me the names of possible Bee Health Advisors, please come see me or email me
Thanks for listening!
Nichola
UBKA Treasurers Financial Report For UBKA AGM 5th October 2024
Up to the end of current reporting year (31st July 2024), the overall financial position across all accounts is £67,658.53, we increase the Reserve Account by £10,000.00 Assets and Liabilities for the period 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2024 are summarized as follows: Date (£) Description 31 July 30,463.80 Reserve Account (year-end) 37,077.62 Current Account 92.11 Cash 25.00 Debtors - Equipment/promotional material Total-year start £ 67,658.53 Date (£) Description 31st July 24 - Total – year end - Date (£) Total 31 July 2024 (year-end) £ 67,658.53 I would like to thank David Morgan for what he has done in getting operational improvements, we will carry on and try to improve as we go, like the changes to the capitation sheet we are getting there. I would like to ask the associations to fill in the forms with all details, as with the email database Although communication has improved, I would urge all Associations to continue to assist in this process and to inform the UBKA Hon. Secretary and Treasurer of any changes to post holders and members as they arise. This is particularly critical given the pending change of personnel. Income and expenditure across both accounts over the past financial year is summarized below. 1 Reserve Account (t/a UBKA Select Account) Review – balance £30,463.80. As agreed, the balance of the reserve account was increased by £10,000 with additional funds transferred from the Current Account. This account has been ‘ring fenced’ for the UBKA Conference. 2 Current Account (t/a Classic Account) Review – balance £37,077.62 Transactions during the past year are summarized into the following categories: a) Capitation A total of 10,940.77 was received from the various Association during the reporting period. As has been noted in previous correspondence by the Hon. Secretary and myself, I would once again remind all Associations that members will not be insured unless they are capitated by their Association and payments received. I would acknowledge that this has improved greatly over the course of the past year. The UBKA continues to be insured through O’Leary Insurance Group (broker), with a renewal price for 2024 equating to £6,124.61. This represents a significant increase of around £840 from our previous renewal in 2023. The increase is due to (i) an ongoing claim under the policy; and (ii) the inclusion of ‘member to member cover’. I would once again note that Hiscox Insurance is still the only insurance provider offering insurance specifically for beekeeping activities. Our broker continues to advise that any significant claims on the policy has the potential to dramatically increase the value of any renewals. This has been verified by market testing undertaken at the time of the renewal. We have therefore increased the capitation to £10 as from 1st Jan 2025. b) Education Education payments were not received during the current financial reporting year. We are still working on getting the payments quicker. c) UBKA Events UBKA Conference 2024 –A huge thanks should be extended to Brian Grzymek and his team for organizing yet another standout event, Brian’s Conference Manager. Speaker’s expenses of
around £18,065.77 costs (hire, catering, accommodation etc.) totaling about £24,095.87 were offset by ticket sales and sponsorship. Although some outstanding payments are to be finalized, I am pleased to report that the conference returned an overall profit. Honey Show 2023 – The 2023 Honey Show was considered a great success and saw a good number of exhibits. This show continues to be free to enter and incurred a cost of around £1,530.08 Bee Health Workshop 2024 – the event incurred a cost of around £6,757.83. Young Beekeeper 2023 – the UBKA funded the entry fee of about £1,073.89 d) UBKA Operational Expenses UBKA general operational expenses totaling around £were incurred over the course of the year. These included the following elements: i. Zoom subscription (monthly charge) £ 296.75 ii. Bank fees £ 259.50 iii. Auditor fees £ 100 iv. UBKA website £ 390.00 v. Misc. IT £ 134.98 In closing, I would like to thank you all for your assistance over the course of the last year period. I am pleased to report that the Association is in a good financial standing.
Kind regards
Les Sims
UBKA Treasurer