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MBBKA Blog and BBKA Module Notes Library

The MBBKA ‘blog’ (originally found at the location blog.mbbka.org.uk) goes back many years and was the precursor to this site – mbbka.org.uk
This first site became the home for notes, happenings, photos and module revision papers for very many years. As such, the contents have been shared with many beekeepers all over the world.
The module notes in particular have been requested and shared and updated and shared again and, in recognition of their place in educating new and not-so-new beekeepers alike, this material is now housed here.

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In 2009, a project began...

In the early(er) days of the interweb, a very early instance of a website commenced. This website was built as a ‘blog‘ and contained all sorts of everything connected with beekeeping in ‘n around Mid Bucks. A ‘blog‘ (a conjunction of the words ‘web’ and log’) is defined as being a ‘regular record of your thoughts, opinions, or experiences that you put on the internet for other people to read.

The opening entry was ‘published‘ for the world to read on the 26th of November 2009 and read…

Met the occupier of the house at the entrance to the Apiary, agreed to give him a list of events next year so that he can ensure his vehicle is not blocking access. The track to the Apiary is very wet and like an ice rink to the car so I left the car on the main road. The 5 hives all look in fine state, hefted them all, two possibly three may require feeding in December. Found the Apiary record book and took it away to prepare the log sheets for next year.

On another note been looking around for a local supply of Fondant, the local cake supplies shop sells it at £22 per 5 kg, expensive compared with Thorne’s Apifonda at £28 per 12.5 kg.

The ‘home‘ page entry for the ‘blog‘ provided the Mission Statement…
This site is intended to cover two key areas in the operation of the Association, the Apiary management and support to our members studying to further their Beekeeping knowledge.
To this end we have two top categories Apiary and Education. The Apiary is rightly quiet at this time of year, but the Education Blog is active as we have several members taking BBKA module exams in March next year
(2010)Please feel free to comment on any posting.
To simplify reading, the Education posts are PDF documents, although currently unindexed they are simple to read and follow the Syllabus exactly.

And so it continued from that point on. Since then, the BBKA Study Modules especially have been utilised by beekeepers from a host of associations, and people still look for blog.mbbka.org.uk for the latest in revision notes for everything from General Husbandry through the BKA Modules to advisory notes on the BBKA Basic Assessment.

Please note...

There’s an old saying that if something isn’t broken, then one shouldn’t try to fix it ! So what we have tried to do here is intended to be an improvement to make these notes more readily available and easier to find for their intended audience.

The problem we are trying to solve…
Since first published, these Module Study Notes have been found and hoovered up and placed on web servers the world over. So this is very much an effort to maintain the integrity of what is published here. This is NOT to restrict access. It is intended to restrict casual downloading for purposes other than helping beekeepers.

  • If you have been frequenting the original blog.mbbka.org.uk and are looking for something in particular that we have not yet transitioned over to our association library, then please email content@mbbka.org.uk and we will endeavour to locate what you are looking for and make it available through this section of our website.
  • If you find a document you would like, and this document is behind a password, then please email content@mbbka.org.uk and we will provide the password for you to take whatever notes you seek.
  • These documents will age and become less current if you don’t aid us in updating these for all beekeepers. These files are to be maintained by all, and not just the MBBKA. So if you find an error, an omission, an out of date reference, we ask that you please email content@mbbka.org.uk and we will correct any document and republish it.


Your assistance in this regard is always hugely appreciated.

Now… this bit’s quite important…

These study notes have been created over a period of time, originally intended for personal use. They are pretty good and they are pretty close… BUT… they may not be as per the current syllabus for any particular module. So please do not use these notes as the only reference source. The intention is that the contents be used as an aide memoir only. i.e. these are a guide and may not yet have been updated to the current syllabus. There’s lots of great study material out there, so the more widely you read, the more prepared you will be.

For current information on the BBKA Study Modules, go directly to the BBKA.

This content is categorised into three areas – Education, Information & News, and you can filter by category to narrow down those items listed…

BBKA Module 2 – Honey Bee Products and Forage This document is a 2024 updated reference used as

BBKA Module 5 – Honey Bee Biology This document is an updated reference used as part of the

BBKA Module 7 – Selection & Breeding of Honey Bees This document is an updated reference used as

BBKA Module 3 Honeybee Diseases, Pests and Poisoning Study Notes (2024) This document is an updated reference used

BBKA Module 6 Honeybee Behaviour Study Notes (2019) This document is an updated reference used as part of

BBKA Module 1 Honeybee Management Study Notes This document is an updated reference used as part of the

How to make an anti-wasp entrance for a National hive.

BBKA Basic Assessment Study Notes (2024 Syllabus) The assessment that is a pre-requisite for all later BBKA assessments,

BBKA News Topics – first published in Nov. 2009 BBKA News Articles by ModulePublished on November 6th 2009,

Asian Hornet spotted in Berkshire Dateline – October 2021. The first confirmed sighting of the invasive species in

Education – some pointers and contacts on available resources A key part of beekeeping today is ensuring one