British Beekeepers Association ‘buzzing’ with Hatmill donation

“The British Beekeepers Association, known as the BBKA, was set up in 1874 to promote and further the craft of beekeeping and to advance the education of the public in the importance of bees in the environment.

It is the UK’s leading organisation representing 30,000+ beekeepers and millions of honey bees. They promote the importance of bees in the environment, support for beekeepers through education necessary to maintain healthy colonies of honey bees, and awareness of the craft of beekeeping. On behalf of their members, they lobby the Government, the EU and Official Bodies on the importance of providing adequate funding for honey bee research and to raise awareness of threats to honey bees.

The BBKA is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2024 and we’re delighted to support their campaign to Save the Bees. I personally nominated BBKA because I love bees! Bees are the absolute foundation of our world, and without them our civilisation would cease to exist in less than 5 years. We are reliant on them, and must treat them with the respect and care they deserve so they can thrive.”

Honey bees face many threats:

● Climate change
● Loss of forage
● Use of pesticides
● Pests and diseases including yellow-legged Asian hornets

Erica Challis, BBKA Deputy Manager and Fundraising Administrator said:

“Thanks to Hatmill for their generous donation, helping our honey bees in a very real way. These funds will be used to finance research into how we can combat these threats and support our Education Centre to enable schools to come and learn about the importance of bees, pollinators, beekeeping and the environment.”

The six charities were put forward by team members and individuals voted as to which ones they wanted to support. The unanimous team decision was to support the charities below:

• British Beekeepers Association
• Little Hiccups
• Motor Neurone Disease Association
• Read Easy
• St Peter’s Hospice
• The Clothing Bank