BBKA

• World Bee Day

  World Bee Day is celebrated on 20th May each year, marking the birthday of Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern beekeeping. The event is designated by the United Nations to raise global awareness of the importance of bees and all pollinators. BBKA Press Release 2026 YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQJGN1sc-k You can help bees by planting bee friendly plants in your garden and encouraging your local council to plant wildflower meadows and leave grass verges to allow wildflowers to bloom.  You can also take part in 'No Mow May', a Plantlife initiative, where people are asked not to mow their lawns to allow wildflowers to grow to provide pollen and nectar as food for all pollinating insects.  Planting for Pollinators May is a busy time for beekeepers who are tending their bees, watching them progress into strong colonies and often bringing in a spring honey crop depending on the weather...

• Dancing Bees

  Honey bee dances are amongst the most fascinating aspects of their complex behaviour. Honey bees live in large colonies of up to 60,00 in summer and communication is essential to make the colony efficient and to ensure survival. In the first half of the twentieth century German-Austrian scientist Karl von Frisch cracked the code for honey bees ‘waggle dance.’ He discovered that a dancing honey bee is communicating vital distance and direction information to other bees, so that instead of looking randomly for food they know exactly where to go. Karl von Frisch was later awarded a Nobel prize for his work. Photo credit: Heather Broccard Bell Now a new study by researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that the honey bee waggle dance is not a one-way communication but, in fact, a dynamic, two-way interaction shaped by its audience. These findings challenge the trad...

• Swarm Collection

  This page redirects to the category listing page for swarms.

• Golden Honey Braid

  Inspired by the giant pillowy poppyseed-topped loaves my dad used to bring home from a now long-gone Polish bakery in a nearby village, this loaf is my attempt to recreate that childhood memory. If you don’t fancy your chances at the four-strand braid (there are lots of good how-to videos online) simply form the dough into smooth rounds. Arrange them with just a little room to grow and with edges touching so they bake into a soft, tear-apart batch. Serves: Makes a large loaf   Time: 30 mins preparation, rising time and then 30 mins baking Ingredients 500g   Strong white bread flour 7g         Instant dry yeast 5g         Salt 175ml Warm water 2            Eggs 80g      Honey 25g      Vegetable/olive oil 10g      Poppy seeds Tip:  Salt flakes or nigella seeds would be great...

• Show Judge List

  List of current qualified BBKA Show Judges with their contact details.  If you have any questions regarding this list, please contact the BBKA Examinations Board Secretary on sec.exams@bbka.org.uk Honey show secretaries are encouraged to use BBKA Show Judges, particularly at large shows, where the cards will count towards the assessment portfolios of prospective and trainee show judges.  Only BBKA Show Judge Assessors can carry out assessments for trainees. Show Judge List