Kennet BKA club meetings
Wednesday club meetings at 7.30pm at Bishops Canning Village Hall, Devizes, SN10 2LL unless otherwise specified.
If you’d like to attend a particular club meeting, please email the Club Secretary.
Find out what’s on here: Kennet Beekeepers Association
Introduction to Beekeeping Course take place at Bishops Canning Village Hall or via Zoom depending on the session.
Course Practicals and Apiary Sessions are at the club apiary. Contact the club for more information and location.
Upcoming events in 2024
- 27th January Super and brood Frame-making
- 7th February Club meeting: “Queen rearing on a queenright colony – using the Miller method and a Cloake board” by Dave Bonner
- 6th March “Tropilaelaps Research” by Maggie Gill
- 3rd April “Sex and the virgin queen” by Clare Densley and Martin Hann
- 7th April Open Apiary Session
- 21st April Open Apiary Session
- 1st May Club meeting: “Herbs with bees in mind” by Carrie Pakenham
- 5th May Open Apiary Session
- 19th May Open Apiary Session
- 2nd June Open Apiary Session
- 5th June Club meeting: “Other People’s Bees” by Robert Carpenter
- 16th June Open Apiary Session
- 30th June Open Apiary Session
- 3rd July Club meeting: “Wiltshire’s Wild Bees, with a focus on Morgan’s Hill Nature Reserve” by Liam Olds
- 14th July Open Apiary Session
- 20th July Drone Congregation Area walk with Stephen Fleming
- 27th July Honey Extraction Master Class
- 28th July Open Apiary Session
- 7th August Club meeting “Facts and fiction of honeybees and insulation” by Derek Mitchell
- 11th August Open Apiary Session
- 25th August Open Apiary Session
- 4th September Club meeting AGM, Talk and KBKA Honey Show. Plus talk by Chris Parks “The Feminine Monarchie or The Historie of Bees”.
- 8th September Open Apiary Session
- 22nd September Open Apiary Session
- 22nd October Club meeting “Beekeeping Discoveries” on some of the historical ways we have kept bees in the past is both interesting and relevant to modern beekeeping by Richard Oliver
- 6th October Open Apiary Session
- 6th November Club meeting: “Bees and Trees – an Ancient Partnership” by Richard Rickitt
- 6th December. Skittles Challenge
- 1st January 2025 Open Apiary Session Mince Pies, Mulled wine and Oxalic Acid
Past meetings
2023
December – Skittles night
November – Club meeting
October – club meeting
September – club honey show and AGM
August – club meeting
July Honey Extraction Skills course
July two x open Apiary days
July – club meeting: The Honey Island – bee-lore from the Isles of Britain and beyond
June – club meeting – bring your questions for a Q&A
May – Queen rearing with Richard Oliver
April – Gill Perkins on the Plight of the Bumblebee
March – the speaker cancelled on the day… replaced with club Q&A on beekeeping questions
February – Dan Basterfield on creation and uses of nucs
January – Bee chat with club experts
January – Apiary session – Oxalic acid treatment for the bees
2022
December – Club Skittles night.
November – Kirsty Stainton on Bee viruses and Wolbachia
October – AGM and bee chat on over-wintering bees
September – Club honey show and Quiz
August – talk by Chris Rawlings on perparing for a honey show
July – Bee Chat. + visit to Pertwood Organic Farm.
June – Bee chat
June – Apiary Safari Visit to members’ apiaries
June – Apiary session
May – Apiary session
May – Talk by Richard Oliver on Swarm Prevention and Swarm Control
April – Talk by Richard Peterson on The Demaree Method.
March – Talk by the Buckfast BeeKeepers on Preparing for Spring – Don’t Idle Your Winter Away
February – Talk by Kevin Pope on Whether the Weather Weathered the Health of the Bees in 2021 – Kevin Pope.
January – Introduction to charitable status.
2021
December – Social: Skittles
November – Bee Chat: Open discussion for KBKA members on their bees and beekeeping
October – Kennet AGM
September – The Buckfast Beekeepers with Clare Densley & Martin Hann
August – Bee Chat: Open discussion for KBKA members on their bees and beekeeping
July – Bee Chat: Open discussion for KBKA members on their bees and beekeeping
June – The Inspector Introduces Herself with Avril Earl
May – Swarms – Whys and Wherefores by Richard Oliver
April – The National Bee Improvement Programme with Jo Widdicombe
March – Improve Your Bees and Beekeeping – Simply with Roger Pattison
February – Rolls-Royce to Rajasthan with Richard Rickett
January – Chronic bee paralysis virus with Clare Densley & Martin Hann
2020
December – Kennet BKA Quiz Night
November – The Private Lives of Bees with Phil Savoie
October – Kennet AGM