2025 was the year that I was elected as the Chair of the WBKA. So, on behalf of the WBKA, a big “thank you” from me for your contribution to beekeeping, whether that’s looking after your own bees, helping within your own local Association, or volunteering to help with the activities of the WBKA (in whatever capacity). You really are making a difference to Welsh beekeeping. The WBKA isn’t just a ‘bigger BKA’ – it’s actually an important organisation within the overall civic life of Wales. It truly does need to be the national “Voice for Welsh Beekeeping”. So, serving in the role of Chair is a great honour and privilege and it does involve accepting a considerable responsibility. However, it also gives the opportunity to represent all of you – within Wales, the wider UK, and internationally. It would be impossible to do that without being part of, and receiving the support of, the team of voluntary Trustees who manage the WBKA on behalf of its Members (together with its Officers and others who volunteer their time). My sincere thanks goes to all of them.
2025 was another successful year for the WBKA. As most of you know, it’s all done by volunteers, who have: Delivered a range of events, activities, and programmes including the annual Spring Convention, our magazine The Welsh Beekeeper, our Learning & Development Programme, our Webinar Programme, our Website/social media output, and variety of special initiatives (which this year has included work on the Yellow-Legged Hornet). We’ve also contributed to CONBA (the UK confederation of beekeeping associations) and to BHAF (the Bee Health Advisory Forum – a joint initiative by the Welsh Government and Defra in England). BHAF includes the implementation of the joint Welsh Government and Defra Healthy Bees Plan 2030. So, we’ve been busy! And all of this has been achieved with limited financial resources.
Having said all of this, we recognise that there’s more we’ll need to do in the future and that we need to review what we do regularly to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our Members. As well as asking ourselves whether we’re doing the right things, we also need to check whether we can do some things better and more effectively, which brings me onto 2026. I think we can already see that the year ahead will bring both opportunities and significant challenges. The list includes: continuing to develop a new education and learning strategy (and implementation plan), developing new training courses and looking at how best to deliver them, developing our work on conservation, genetics, bee health, and scientific research (and making it accessible and relevant to practical beekeeping management practices), working with the Regional Bee Inspector and his team, public policy development (given the Welsh General Election for the Senedd in May and a potentially different Welsh Government), the threat from the Yellow-Legged Hornet, the potential threat to beekeeping from those who think honey bees are a problem for other pollinators, environmental threats to honey bees (including pesticides), the effect of farming policy on honey bees and pollinators, improving our Welsh Language Policy implementation, and the list goes on.
How can you help? And, yes, we do need your help. The WBKA has no paid staff. We can pay to commission specific pieces of work but almost all we do depends on volunteers. In 2026 we need two things in particular. Firstly ,we need as many of you as possible to get involved with our Strategic Review – which is modern ‘management speak’ for asking whether we’re doing the right things and how can we do things more effectively. Please get involved and let us have your views. Secondly, we need more people to become volunteers to support the WBKA’s activities. If you have particular expertise you can offer, please come and talk to one of the Trustees (or e-mail us). It doesn’t have to be an onerous commitment. Whilst having enough money is important to running the WBKA, what really matters is people willing to donate some of their time. Just a few hours a month can make a huge difference to what we’re able to do. We’ll also be flagging up specific needs we’ll have during the course of 2026, so please respond if you think you may be able to help. There’s no question that we’ll need a bigger team in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead. We need you. Don’t be shy!
Finally, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during the year ahead. So, as we look forward to 2026, a Happy New Year to all of you.
Kind Regards and All the Best for the New Season,
Selwyn.
Selwyn Runnett
WBKA Chair
Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association 