Author Archives: Meridian Beekeepers’ Association

Our apiary and meadow at West End is doing better now. Progress earlier in the season was hampered by the wet May and June; a story sadly reflected in the beekeeping of many this year. The colonies were inspected on Wednesday (28 July) by Denise and Richard, ably assisted by one of our younger beekeepers,Continue reading “West End apiary”

Our planned 10 July apiary meeting was cancelled due to rain but rescheduled for the following Saturday. We’re sorry if you couldn’t make it at short notice but we knew the bees needed checking so we had to proceed. In the end, the weather was perfect but of course, attendance a bit lower than usual.Continue reading “Apiary meeting, Swanmore, 17 July 2021”

Ten days ago, on Sunday 4 July, Howard and I answered a swarm call from Botley. When we arrived, we were pleased to discover a reasonably-sized swarm had obligingly settled conveniently close to the ground; ‘this is going to be a doodle’ we thought! It was an easy enough job to collect the bees; they’dContinue reading “Lisa: a comedy of errors”

Here’s a few more photographs from the practical day at Swanmore on Saturday 26 June 2021. Thank you Ailia for the beautiful pictures.

Our introduction to beekeeping course concluded on Saturday 24 June with the practical element at the Swanmore apiary. Fortunately, the weather was kind, the bees were on their best behaviour and everything went more or less according to plan. Thank you as always to the Hammond family for generously allowing us to park at theirContinue reading “Practical day, 26 June 2021”

Every Introduction to Beekeeping course concludes with a practical session at the apiary. In previous years, that session has been restricted to a hive inspection and the others topics discussed would have been covered in more detail in the classroom. We already know there were things we could’ve done better (chairs would have helped!) but we’d welcomeContinue reading “Introduction to beekeeping course, practical day”

The importance of being registered on BeeBase It’s very important for all of us to be registered on Beebase. This is so the National Bee Unit knows where all colonies are located so bee inspectors can monitor for the arrival of exotic pests. It also means they are able to control outbreaks of notifiable diseasesContinue reading “Exotic pests and notifiable diseases”

Most of us develop our own technique for building frames and even the least handy amongst us (I’m thinking about myself here) soon becomes proficient at the task and can build a set of frames quite quickly. This video by Meridian member Richard Skinner demonstrates how frames should be constructed according to the BBKA whichContinue reading “How to build a frame”

Stop the importation of honey bees into Great Britain. Please sign the petition and share the link petition The petition is to ask the UK Government to ensure people don’t break the rules on the movement of bees. Unrestricted movement could allow Small Hive Beetle to arrive here and damage British bees even further. .Continue reading “Help save our bees!”

Most people know bees are under increasing threat from human activity but what can we do about it? It’s such a big problem. Thursday 20 May is World Bee Day, designed to increase our awareness of these amazing pollinators and to show that we can do something about it! What does the UN suggest weContinue reading “World bee day, 20 May”