[This email has been sent to the secretaries, membership secretaries & treasurers of all BDI member associations]
If you want copies of the attachments referred to, email me on secretary@mbka.info or phone 01341 250882. Pauline.
I enclose the formal agenda for the Annual General Meeting of Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) of which your association is a member. The draft minutes from last year’s meeting and the 2021 financial statements are also enclosed for your reference.
We are pleased to be able to return to our practice pre-pandemic of holding the AGM on the Friday morning of the BBKA Spring Convention at 11.00am. The AGM will be held in the teaching block at Harper Adams University Newport TF10 8NB. Unfortunately we are unable to stream the meeting on Zoom.
Key points from the BDI Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2021.
BDI remains financially strong, with an increase in the value of investments of £64,000 during the year. These investments are held for the long terms and enable us to fund research, as well as to build up a buffer in case of a major outbreak of disease, particularly any new ‘exotic’ pest that might arrive on our shores. They are in addition to the reserves we hold in cash equivalents to cover our insurance requirements.
The company continues to use some of the investment surpluses to fund research into bee diseases, with £40,000 invested in this area in 2021. Details of all the projects being funded by BDI can be found on the research pages of our website
During 2021, BDI started our two year trial on the whole apiary shook swarm method of controlling EFB. This trial, held in conjunction with the National Bee Unit, will continue on in 2022 after which the results will be evaluated. Associations are encouraged to make their members aware of this offer to replace all frames and combs in an affected apiary, in a case of an outbreak of European Foul Brood. Full details of the trial can be found here
Immediately after the formal business, there will be a talk:-
‘The journey to Varroa Tolerance – An update by Professor Stephen Martin and his team from Salford University, as more people start to move to treatment free management of this endemic pest.’
Over the last few years, BDI and its member associations through the original ReVive project and a subsequent follow up project have funded Salford’s bee research with grants of around £150,000. As this research draws to a conclusion, the results and actions beekeepers can take as a result are explained in this video hosted on BDI’s website. In addition a BBKA news special edition is available here.
The AGM and talk are open to all BDI association officers and their members.
Your board look forward to seeing as many as possible at the meeting.
Martin Smith, President
martin.smith@beediseasesinsurance.co.uk
https://www.beediseasesinsurance.co.uk/