The SBKA Bee Market 2024 will be on the 18th May 2024 at the new venue for us Uckfield Community College which provides us with better facilities in terms of parking. WiFi, mobile phone access, more room in a brand new modern welcoming building.
PROGRAMME
- 9:00 Registration of auction entries
- 10:00 Bee Market opens to the general public.
- 11:00 Brief talk about how to take up Beekeeping – by Malcolm Wilkie Chair of High Weald Division in theatre AG02
- 11:00 Childrens’ activities – painting, colouring bee images, making simple bee houses/nesting tubes made from plastic guttering etc. by Maggie Pratt School Primary School Teacher and Co-owner of the ‘Bee People’ bee keeping supplies company in Reading Room AG14
- 12:00 Invited talk on ‘Drone Congregation Areas’ – by Stephen Flemming – co-editor of Bee Craft Magazine in theatre AG02
- 14:00 Auction of Bee Equipment, Bees and second-hand items in theatre AG01
- 16:30 Bee Market Closes
This year’s Bee Market talk –
The Magic & Mystery of Drone Congregation Areas
by Stephen Fleming – co-editor of Bee Craft
Fascinated by the idea that male honeybees gather in particular places in the hope of meeting up with a queen, Stephen Fleming set about trying to find these drone congregation areas (DCAs). Fortunately, they choose the most scenic of places.
The books led him in one direction, but the drones lured him in another, and on his first outing, he was lucky to find one where he least expected.
Since then, he has upset his work calendar by taking time off on suitable sunny afternoons in the drone season to try to unravel the secrets of DCAs.
Do bees fly over water to mate on other shores? That’s something Stephen and a team are trying to find out on the glorious Isles of Scilly – and the name of the research is The Game of Drones of course. He will explain some of the surprises the team has found.
Each season, the drones keep springing surprises – just as the mystery seems close to being explained, more questions surface.
Stephen is co-editor of BeeCraft, in which he occasionally writes about DCAs and the bemused looks he gets when he is out and about with his rod, lure and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle).