Apiary Meetings

WVBKA Association Apiary Meetings

The apiary houses approximately 10 hives which are principally for teaching best beekeeping practice to members. Harvested honey and new colonies are occasionally sold to cover costs. Regular meetings are held outdoors throughout the flying season and into the winter within the new lodge building. We cover practical relevant seasonal topics with a bit of chat and a bit of hands on. The apiary is managed by Clare Penkey with support from Geoff Dutson, Duncan Penkey and Dave Williams.

The first priority for managing the Apiary is for the health and wellbeing of the bees, the second objective is as a learning resource for the membership. So while all members are welcome to attend and observe any of the weekly inspections; minimising disturbance of the bees is the primary concern. Therefore the majority of weekly sessions will only be focussed on answering Ted Hooper’s five questions:

  • Has the colony sufficient room?
  • Is the queen present and laying
  • Early season: is the colony building up as expected or Mid Season are there QCs present in the colony
  • Are there any signs of disease or abnormality
  • Has the colony sufficient stores to last until the next inspectioN. 

And then of course any necessary actions. 

During these inspections  the hives will only be open for the minimum time necessary to assess and take any action. Weekly inspections will as usual be on Thursday or Friday (depending on weather and availability of the apiary management team).

We are however setting aside several dates through the season where we will have more time to cover any specific topics (e.g. swarm control, honey extraction, wax prep etc.) and spend time answering any general questions.

Dates for apiary meetings are also shown on the calendar. Clearly the dates are weather dependent and will be confirmed nearer each date.

A few days prior to the meeting an email will be sent to all members with information about the upcoming meeting.

Spontaneous events may be added to the schedule based on what is happening with the bees and these will be advertised by email shot to members.

There will be tea and coffee and a discussion session afterwards; enjoyment and learning from the sessions will be important. There will be opportunity for members to stay and chat as an alternative to going onto the bees if they don’t want to.

In addition, there is an Apiary Group WhatsApp group which will be used to keep members in touch with what is happening at the apiary. To join this group members should send an email to wvbkasecretary@gmail.com