Your points are very valid Maggie. . . but for *those* beekeepers who are indeed members of a hub/club/branch. And yes to providing hives for scientific research - but that only goes so far. My point was that scientists may get frustrated by the disconnect of those wanting answers that science can provide . . .and those same people not wanting to contribute to the science. Given it takes money, then who should pay?
Just a suggestion - don't beat me up. Maybe the scientists need to have a scientific meeting, and not just at conference, and use that as a fund raiser. Money is generally accumulated in clubs/branches/hubs etc by volunteers. Maybe you have to go and visit these people. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons many beekeepers will not go to conference, so no they won't see your scientific meeting.
A couple of decades ago BIG (the beekeeping interest group of FF), the Canty branch of the NBA, ChCh hobbyists, scientists from Plant & Food, and Landcare supported a major scientific meeting and general exhibition in ChCh. The theme was pollinators. It was held on the ground floor of the old chch railway station for a week. Don't ask me who headed it or the money raised - it was so long ago. On opening commercial & hobbyist beekeepers and scientists rocked up. Linda Newstrom-Lloyd did a presentation on pollinators, the hobbyists bought in a Langstroth demonstration hive and the had the entrance via piping from the roof, commercial beekeepers there also and we all volunteer hosted that night, and then during the week there was a roster. The butterfly society was there with a major display, a bird society, and scientific displays. It had been advertised extensively on radio and other media.
Maybe use a building in Auck, then Wellington and perhaps one of the CRIs at Lincoln would have room.
Another display, this time in the mid 1990s. The Canty branch of the NBA was concerned about the fact there were no young beekeepers coming into the industry. They chose Linwood shopping mall, probably because at the time it was the most busiest mall on the weekends and they did a display Sat & Sunday to attract new blood into the industry.
One club I know of hosts schools for a fee, and also pays their volunteers petrol money. Another might pay the fees of a speaker, charge a door fee to make a good profit.
So yes, in this thread we are getting an idea of who does and doesn't belong to whatever industry body, but I think perhaps there needs to be a fresh look at how you can raise this money, and perhaps revisit some ideas that in the past were very successful. Overall, I do think that beekeepers know that they need scientists, but I think your biggest impediments are that people are v time poor, many are in donor fatigue, and money is tight.
No sorry, I can't volunteer. The last 18 months for the first time since I have left school, I have not done any volunteer work and am loving decluttering my life instead.
