Progress towards the reshaping of a national-level beekeeping industry body is continuing its slow but now, seemingly, steady progress as the calendar flips to 2026. A group of ten beekeepers have been tasked with assessing a “draft foundation document”, having met once in December and planning to do so again in January.

Building on from columns analysing the failings of existing beekeeping and honey industry governance (The Future of Beekeeping Representation: Let’s Talk About It) and what he sees as an ideal governance structure for the future (Let’s Move the Conversation Forward), Darren Bainbridge now addresses the term thrown forward by many as an essential building block: “unity”.