and SICAMM Biennial Conference
26 - 28 September 2014. The Pavilion, Llangollen, North Wales
A conference for all beekeepers
This conference was the best I have ever attended by some distance, even though I was one of the organising committee! There were speakers and attendees from all over Europe. There were a large number of comments received, with very few negative ones, and these were of a minor nature. The most common was that delegates found it difficult to choose which lecture to go to because they were all so good!
I will leave this page displayed for historical purposes and to remind attendees what they witnessed.
Roger Patterson.
The focus will be on bee improvement, bee breeding, queen rearing and the management of native and near native honey bees. There will be something of interest for all beekeepers.
Provisional Programme.
Profiles of Lectures and Lecturers.
The following is the lecture part of the programme. There will be three simultaneous streams. This is not the final programme as it may be subject to minor adjustment, it is only placed here to help attendees with booking.
Friday 26 Sept.
10.15 Opening presentation with remarks by Brian Dennis (BIBBA President) and Dorian Pritchard (SICAMM President)
11.00 – 11.15 Changeover
11.15 – 12.15 Lecture.
Session 1: Pete Sutcliffe: "Colony Nutrition."
Session 2: Giles Budge: "Understanding the genetics and provenance of UK honey bee populations."
Session 3: Robert Paxton: "Hybridization – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly."
12.15 – 1.30 Lunch
1.30 – 2.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Trisha Marlow: "Fit to rule? Nutrition for queen honey bees."
Session 2: Catherine Thompson: "The health and status of feral honey bees in the UK."
Session 3: Romée van der Zee: "Two or three things we don't know about colony losses: an investigation into the findings of the COLOSS international research group."
Session 3 has been kindly sponsored by Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI).
2.30 – 2.45 Changeover
2.45 – 3.45 Lecture.
Session 1: Graham Royle: "The Hive Mind."
Session 2: Steve Rose: "Hassle-free Queenright Queen Rearing." and.........
Andrew Abrahams: "Overwintering Mininucs."
Session 3: Balser Fried: "Correlation between morphometry according to Ruttner and DNA analyses in determination of affiliations within the bee subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera." (Martina Siller’s thesis) and.........
Michel Bocquet: "Assessment of quality and breeding value of queens and drones."
3.45 – 4.30 Break
4.30 – 5.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Ben Harden: "Dynamics of the Winter Cluster."
Session 2: Irene Power: "At the Hive Side."
Session 3: Dorian Pritchard: "The community concept in honey bee conservation." and.........
John Hendrie: "Queen supersedure."
7.30 Evening Lecture:
Ingvar Arvidsson: "Re-introduction of the White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotus) to Sweden."
Sat 27 Sept.
9.30 – 10.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Graham Royle: "Apis Through the Looking Glass."
Session 2: Mary Ryan: "Simple Genetics for Beekeepers."
Session 3: Andrew Abrahams: "Creating a Reserve for Apis m m. – Benefits and problems for the future." and.........
Aoife Nic Giolla Coda: "Apis mellifera mellifera in Ireland and the Role of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society (NIHBS)"
10.30 – 11.15 Break
11.15 – 12.15 Lecture.
Session 1: Roger Patterson: "Bees in the wild - What Can we Learn From Them?"
Session 2: Willie Blakely: "The Problems and Solutions of a Queen Rearing Group."
Session 3: Dorian Pritchard: "Which is the best bee for the north and how would I identify it?" and.........
Andrzej Oleksa: "Assortative mating among European subspecies of honey bees."
12.15 – 1.30 Lunch
1.30 – 2.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Norman Carreck: "What future for local bees in Britain?"
Session 2: Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda: "Evaluating and Selecting Honey Bee Stocks for Breeding."
Session 3: Maria Pilar de la Rúa: "Conservation status of Apis mellifera iberiensis in Spain."
2.30 – 2.45 Changeover
2.45 – 3.45 Lecture.
Session 1: Celia Davis: "Understanding the Youngsters."
Session 2: Jo Widdicombe: "The Principles of Bee Improvement."
Session 3: Rustem Ilyasov: "Isolates of dark European honey bees, A.m.mellifera L. in the Ural mountains of Russia." and.........
Gabriele Soland: "The genetic hybrid test and its additional options."
3.45 – 4.30 Break
4.30 - 5.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Ceri Morgan: "Following Your Nose."
Session 2: Jonathan Getty: "Apidea Management - What Works For Me."
Session 3: Willie Robson: "Honey farming with local bees."
6.00 - 7.00 SICAMM General Meeting
7.30 Conference Dinner
Sun 28 Sept.
9.30 – 10.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Willie Robson: "What the books don't tell us."
Session 1 has been kindly sponsored by the Welsh Beekeepers Association.
Session 2: Wally Shaw: "Local Bees for Local Beekeepers."
Session 3: Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda: "Strategies for the Conservation of the European dark bee, Apis mellifera mellifera."
10.30 – 11.15 Break
11.15 – 12.15 Lecture.
Session 1: Robert Paxton: "What we do – and do not – know about honey bee mating."
Session 2: Micheál Mac Giolla Coda: "Conservation and Improvement of the Native Irish Honey Bee."
Session 3: Maria Pilar de la Rúa: "The work of BABE (Beekeeping and Apis Biodiversity in Europe) and EURBEE (European Association for Bee Research)." and.........
Dara Scott: "New Breeding Programme to Protect the Native Irish Honey Bee."
Session 3 has been kindly sponsored by Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI).
12.15 – 1.30 Lunch
1.30 – 2.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Keith Pierce: "Producing Nuclei - The Corner-Stone of a Sustainable Apiary."
Session 2: Ethel Irvine: "The Importance of the Drone in the hive."
Session 3: Rustem Ilyasov: "Conservation status of A.m.m. in Russia." and.........
Bjørn Dahle: "Conservation efforts and status of A.m.m. in Norway." and.........
Ingvar Arvidsson: "Projekt NordBi, Sweden. How to preserve and develop our black bee in Sweden" and.........
2.30 – 2.45 Changeover
2.45 – 3.45 Lecture.
Session 1: Geoff Critchley: "The answer was disappointing, but what did I expect?"
Session 2: Andrew Abrahams: "Keeping Bees in the Hebrides and Working with a Closed Population."
Session 3: Lucja Skonieczna: "Conservation of A.m.m. in Poland." and.........
Romée van der Zee: "Survival of the Dark Bee in the Netherlands." and.........
Michel Bocquet: "Conservation activities and A.m.m. in France."
3.45 – 4.30 Break
4.30 - 5.30 Lecture.
Session 1: Gerry Ryan: "Preparing for Winter."
Session 2: Gavin Ramsay: "What can we do with DNA?"
Session 3: Harry Owens: "Conservation status of A.m.m. on the Isle of Man."
Per Thunman: Leading discussion on "How can you be sure you've got Apis mellifera mellifera?"
5.30 Closing remarks from Brian Dennis, BIBBA President.
POSTERS. These will be prominently displayed throughout the conference.
Anna Brandorf & M.Ivoilova: "Problems of A. m. mellifera conservation in Russia."
Jo Widdicombe (Convenor): "Activities of the BIBBA Breeding Groups."
Hasan Al Toufailia, Luciano Scandian & Francis Ratnieks: "Towards integrated control of varroa: Effect of variation in hygienic behaviour among honey bee colonies on mite population increase and symptoms of deformed wing virus."
This list may change due to personal or other circumstances, so consult regularly. All those who pre – register (see below) will be automatically updated by email.
Cost:
Full conference Friday-Sunday 26th-28th September.
BIBBA members £75.00 (£90.00) Non-BIBBA members £90.00 (£105.00)
Day Ticket. Same price for all days.
BIBBA members £30.00 (£35.00) Non-BIBBA members £35.00 (£40.00)
"Cyllidwyd y prosiect hwn drwy Gynllun Datblygu Gwledig Cymru 2007-2013 a ariennir gan Lywodraeth Cymru a'r Gronfa Amaethyddol Ewrop ar gyfer Datblygu Gwledig."
"This project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development."