BIBBA breeding groups

Forming a breeding group
The first essential in forming a breeding group is to find like-minded beekeepers. Ask the BIBBA Groups Secretary for the names and addresses of BIBBA members in your area, contact these and any other known beekeepers near you and ask them to meet to discuss forming a breeding group.

Read ‘Breeding Better Bees’, by John E. Dews & Eric Milner, and contact our BIBBA Groups Secretary for advice.

The first meeting of the group should discuss the following:

• That the group will use the Dark European honeybee Apis mellifera mellifera

• Survey of stocks held by group members to find if there are suitable stocks for breeding purposes.

• Possible mating sites offering some degree of isolation.

• Are there skills within the group for instrumental insemination?

• Provision of queen raising equipment such as mating nucs

This first meeting should show if there is the determination to form a breeding group, and a group can consist of as few as two like minded beekeepers. Assuming the decision is to carry on, there may be more questions than answers, but identifying the problems is halfway to solving them.

BIBBA may be able to help with finding good breeding stock for Apis mellifera mellifera

The BIBBA Groups Secretary Albert Knight can be contacted at:
11 Thomson Drive,, Codnor, Ripley, Derbyshire DE5 9RU
Tel: 01773 745287
email: groups@bibba.com