Speaking Engagements

 

Our Trustees have participated in national and international conferences and delivered talks and presentations across the UK. They are sought-after speakers with years of experience and we would ask for reimbursement of travelling expenses and a donation to the Trust.

 

For audiences of 60 and less, in addition to expenses, we suggest a donation of £100 to the Trust in lieu of a speaking fee. For larger audiences we suggest £200.  Trustees contribute their time and energies freely for the work of the charity and are not paid. All speakers’ fees go directly to support the Trust.  If our suggested donation is beyond the means of your group, please let us know.  Concession can sometimes be granted at the speaker's discretion.

 

If you wish to discuss your idea for a talk or invite us to participate in an event, please contact us and let us know more about what you have in mind.

​

​

Subject Matter

​

In our efforts to find ways of maintaining healthy bee populations without the need for medication, we at the NBKT closely monitor the science behind bee health. Our latest comment on the subject was written in response to a preprint of a forthcoming major review paper on the science behind varroa resistance by two Dutch researchers.  We are also informed that Tom Seeley, the leading US researcher, is about to publish a paper that extends the conclusions in the Dutch research to other aspects of bee health, such as brood diseases.  

 

We are thus even more convinced that the path to healthy bees is to follow the natural biology of the bee living in intimate harmony with its surroundings. This means reproduction through swarming and natural selection, which together remove maladapted colonies from the breeding pool. In other words, we feel it is time to allow the bee to be a wild creature again and to do what all wild creatures do: adapt or perish.  Our own bees have done this over the years and between us we now have a population of varroa resistant bees, some of which are also near native.  We know many other beekeepers up and down the country who have followed the same path with the same results.

 

Our talks explain the work of the Trust in re-wilding the bee and allowing healthy bee populations to develop naturally without beekeeper interference.