News & Events
SWHBK Members' Meetings & Events​​​​​​​​​
07/01/26 AGM and talk/practical session
14/01/26 Clare Densley and Martin Hann - Zoom talk 'Reading the colony'
February No meeting
04/03/26 Dan Basterfield - 'Preparation for a better season'
01/04/26 Club practical - topic to be confirmed
06/05/26 Dylan Gussman - 'Drone congregation areas'
​Venue - all meetings take place at Boldre War Memorial Hall, Boldre, Lymington, SO41 5QG unless otherwise stated.
​For all BBKA talks available on YouTube click here.
January 2026
Meetings in January
We welcome Clare Densley and Martin Hann on Zoom on 14 January. Their talk will be about 'Reading the colony'. They will cover the principals of understanding what can be seen, heard and smelled when looking at and inside the hive. Clare and Martin manage the bee education and bee colonies at Buckfast Abbey.
Our AGM was held on 7 January. The meeting was well attended despite the cold weather. Simon has stepped down as chair and Julia has stepped down from the committee. Thank you for all your hard work.
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We welcome Wendy as our new chair, Julie as secretary and Claire remains treasurer.
December 2025
Christmas quiz and get together
We met for our annual club Christmas gathering and quiz on Wednesday 3 December. The competition was fierce (not really) and a surprise extra round was added on beekeeping questions. Great fun and the prizes were well received. Thanks to Simon - for the quiz, Philip - for taking on the role of quiz master and beekeeping questions and Chris - for arranging the venue and food.
November 2025
Beekeeping apprenticeship
This month we were delighted to welcome Chloe Harvey from The Noble Bee. Simon Noble talking about taking on an apprentice for the newly established beekeeping apprenticeship scheme a couple of years ago. Chloe was taken on by Simon Noble as an apprentice on a national beekeeping apprenticeship scheme. She successfully completed this and was promoted to Operations Manager at The Noble Bee.
Memberships enjoyed listening to her sharing how she came to join The Noble Bee, her experience as an apprenticeship and the challenges and fun of working for a small commercial beekeeper. She kept everyone entertained and a big thank you from us to Chloe.
