MEETINGS & ACTIVITiES
Members meet every Saturday morning at the apiary during the summer months. Every other week we aim to hold activity sessions on a variety of topics relevant to the time of the season, which act as a general refresher or aim to expand knowledge and skills of novice and intermediate beekeepers. Weekly apiary meetings typically finish at the end of September.
In winter we meet once a month, usually the first Saturday of the month, to make sure the hives are secure, to heft to assess hive stores, clear up autumn leaves, do apiary maintenance that may be required and to prepare for the new season by making new frames.
Once flying activity starts to pick up in early spring, we watch the weights carefully and top up stores with fondant if necessary, and look for pollen going in – a sign that the queen is in lay so hopefully all is well.
On a mild day in early-mid of March we meet to do the first quick inspections, to check the size of the colonies and look for brood. Once weather allows, we restart weekly meetings.