A Big Thank You to everybody who responded to the Big Give Christmas challenge. All the pledges, donations, match funding, and gift aid came to a very impressive £8,000. This will support our Bee Forage project in Amhara State, the poorest state in Ethiopia. Shortage of bee forage was identified by beekeepers in Amhara as one of the main constraints to their industry. The other was death of bees from pesticides. Niger, the small black seeds so loved by finches, is an important source of nutrition in Amhara. Pollination by honey bees increases its yield by 43 %.
Our sister charity BfD Ethiopia has translated BfD's training booklets into Amharic and is working with Bahir Dir University to develop an MSc in Apiculture.

BfD Journal
We dispatched 800 sponsored copies of the December edition of BfD journal. One recipient, P.R. Attygalle in Sri Lanka, says 'The BfD Journal is one of the key reference materials for staff in our organization. It has raised awareness among them in the value of bees and also shares the experience of the beekeepers in other regions. It will continue to be so.