MAY MEETING REPORT
On May 14th Kirton and Falkenham W.I. gathered at the Village Hall about an hour and a half earlier than usual in order to partake of a fish and chip lunch before our resolutions meeting. The first course was provided by Bounty Fisheries, the sweets by Mrs Judy Walker and to drink we had a punch brought by Mrs Iris Hitchen and made by her husband Terry.
By 2.00p m, comfortably replete and in a mellow mood, we were ready to tackle the main purpose of our meeting which was to consider a resolution scheduled to go before the National AGM at the Albert Hall in June. The wording of this resolution ran as follows:- ‘SOS for Honey Bees – Honey Bees play a vital role in the pollination of food crops and in our environment. In view of concerns about the accelerating decline in the UK honey bee population, this meeting urges HM Government to increase funding for research into bee health.’ To help us consider all the different aspects of the subject we had the assistance of David Adams, a well known local bee keeper, who gave us the benefit of his experience. He was able to describe in a very lively manner the amazing life cycle of the bee. He then went on to tell us about the problems bee keepers have been facing in recent years, such as the varroa mite, various viruses and pesticides. He welcomed the fact that the government was granting an extra £10m of new funding for research into the threats to Britain’s insect pollinators but emphasized that this should be directed towards diseases affecting honey bees in particular. The resolution was then put to the vote and was passed unanimously. This decision will be conveyed to our delegate, Vivien Hartill from Nacton W.I., who will bear it in mind when deciding which way to vote on the day, although she is free to make up her own mind after hearing the arguments for and against from the platform.
Once we had got this business out of the way we also had the chance to listen to Shirley Reid and Sarah Jones who came to tell us about the KAFPA barbeque and disco on the 6th June in celebration of the D-Day landings, with music from the 1940s through to the 70s.
We had been looking forward to hearing Mrs Beatty Pepper tell us about her experiences at the Maundy Money Ceremony in Bury St Edmunds. Unfortunately she was not well and so her talk has had to be postponed to another time. Instead Elizabeth Sugarman, who was also there on the day, gave us her impressions. Although sitting at the back she had a good view of the processions as they entered the cathedral and came away with a commemorative badge which was given to all who were present. We finished with tea and biscuits at the end of what had been a very interesting meeting.
V E Bines
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