SBA 2018 touring lectures – Marin Anastassov BSc, MSc, NDB
Marin Anastassov – a master beekeeper and one of the few holders of an NDB – visited Aberdeen on 5 October, and gave a fascinating talk on honey bee nutrition and supplemental feeding as part of the 2018 SBA touring lectures in Scotland. Continue reading “Marin Anastassov – Honey Bee Nutrition and Supplemental Feeding”
Twenty-five years ago, if anyone had said I’d become a beekeeper I would have thought they didn’t know me very well. It would never have crossed my mind nor compared with my other interests. Then one day my elder daughter came home from school with a children’s book about honey bees. That caught my wife’s attention and she found out about, and started to attend, the ADBKA introductory course. However, she wasn’t so keen on diseases and pests so I said I would attend that week so that we at least had the knowledge in the house. I ended up completing the course (and in fact did it all again the following year), but although I was interested, I still wasn’t entirely sure beekeeping was for me.
[This is the first of a series of articles based on interviews by Lindsey Macaulay and Olya Kurasova with Murray McGregor.]
My season starts in September when all my colonies are at the heather moors of Scotland waiting for us to harvest the honey crop.
The first thing we do is remove the bees from the honey crop within the hive. We do this by using a New Zealand type clearing board which normally clears all the bees in a matter of hours and, in my opinion, offers several advantages over the alternatives. See Note 1.
Continue reading “Murray McGregor – My Beekeeping Year, September – November”
I am a retired oil industry safety officer, and have been keeping bees at various sites north of Ellon for fifteen years. Over this period I have worked my way through the SBA exam system, eventually completing the apiarian exam in 2024. I served as secretary and then chair of the Association from 2017 until 2022. I enjoy sharing information about bees with beginners and young people, especially through primary school visits.
[Updated: 28 April 2025]
Sandy and Lilian Gordon are finally hanging up the shop keys after running the Association Honey Jar Store for an astonishing 34 years! Over that time, many hundreds of ADBKA members will have visited Danestone Market Garden to borrow equipment or to stock up on jars, syrup, candy and more. No one went along without taking the chance to tap Sandy for advice and guidance on some or other beekeeping challenge, and our association has been enriched by his wisdom and experience.
