Directions to the Teaching Apiary

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Teaching Apiary

Reigate Beekeepers has two teaching apiaries in Mickleham & Newdigate. Please ring Jacqui (details below) to check which apiary is being used for different events.

The Mickleham site is owned by Boxhill School and RBKA are very grateful for the use of this site. The picture below shows a typical summer evening meeting - a chance to chat and exchange news, followed by an inspection/teaching session in the club hives.

If you wish to talk to the club secratary, Jacqui Essen, about coming along, please ring her on 01342 842244

Apiary meetings take place every week from approximately start of April to end of August on Wednesday evenings starting at 6.30pm (or 7pm after the chatting!). The apiary itself is made up of nominally 6 hives, which are divided into beginners, intermediate and advanced. We provide protective clothing if needed, and new members should identify themselves to a committee member and we will organise a veil & gloves, and assign you to an appropriate group.

Scroll down to the bottom to see some pictures of members at the apiary.

Beginners:

The beginners groups provides an introductory course in practical beekeeping which assumes no prior knowledge of beekeeping whatsoever. Topics include identification of hive types, and the key parts such as brood chamber, queen excluder and honey supers etc. Each week the hive is examined, and brood (sealed and unsealed) are identified, along with honey & pollen. Worker bees, drones and the queen are described, and, as beginners feel comfortable, they can start manipulating the hive themselves.

Intermediate:

The intermediate course is aimed at providing members the skills to enter the BBKA basic exam. Completion of most of a season in the beginners is the normal entry criteria, but some very experienced members have participated prior to undertaking their basic! Topic covered are similar to beginners but the level and breadth of knowledge is slighly deeper. Topics may include apiary hygiene, honey processing and applicable legislation, methods of swarm control, identification of diseases and appropriate actions to undertake if they are found etc.

Advanced:

Advanced groups are free to select their own topic of interest for a season depending on availability of members. Topics may include queen rearing, or maximising honey from a colony or aiming for a successful colony split to increase the number of club colonies. Members are welcome to suggest any aims prior to the season.

Members chatting prior to a evening meeting