Membership

Why become a member?

  1. The fee for registered membership includes insurance for your bees against diseases as well as public liability. You will also receive the beekeeping magazine BeeCraft;
  2. You will be joining more than 60 members with a wide variety of experience ranging from those with many years of experience to members who have only recently taken up beekeeping;
  3. The association runs a training Apiary open to all members throughout the beekeeping year, enabling less experienced beekeepers to benefit from the knowledge of more experienced beekeepers;
  4. Members and friends can join annual “Introduction to Beekeeping Course” that covers the basics of beekeeping;
  5. The association provides a swarm collection service to the local area and members can register to receive a swarm. In addition, new members can join more experienced members to collect swarms.
  6. You can hire honey extraction equipment from the association.

To join as a new member, e-mail your name, e-mail address and post code to Membership Secretary, Roger Bartley membership@orpingtonbeekeepers.org.uk, and he will send you a link that will allow for electronic payment.

If you prefer a hard copy form, please download and print one available here if applying between Sep and Dec or here if applying between Jan and Aug. After filling in all details, scan a copy and send it to Roger. Payment can be made by bank transfer (details on the form) but we still need the completed form.

 

Getting Started

If you are interested in keeping bees, but are not sure whether it will be for you or how to get started, read on!

Step 1

Handling some bees. If you are interested in bees and beekeeping, but have little/no hands-on experience of handling them or what the practical commitments will be, it is sensible to try this first.

Orpington Apiary Club hold apiary sessions weekly during the summer months from 2:30pm on Saturday afternoons. Non-members are very welcome to join us at these sessions on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. We can lend you a bee suit and you can observe the hives being opened and inspected. Some of the Orpington Beekeeper mentors and apiary leaders are at each session and can explain what is happening at every stage of the inspection. If you are sufficiently confident you may handle the bees.

Please contact us at apiary@orpingtonbeekeepers.org.uk to arrange to attend the apiary inspections.

Step 2

Orpington Beekeepers run an introduction to beekeeping course. Theory sessions are held at the BEECHE centre and practical sessions are run at the Apiary.

Please contact us to arrange a place on the course at apiary@orpingtonbeekeepers.org.uk.

Step 3

Use the mentoring scheme and apiary sessions to build your knowledge and confidence. As you become ready to establish your own apiary, you can request a mentor from Orpington Beekeepers. They are typically local to you, and can assess and advise your readiness for your own colony and help you to establish your own apiary.

Step 4

Setting up your apiary. This is when it gets exciting. You need to make decisions about what sort of beekeeper you will be – what type of hives and equipment will you be using, which techniques and approaches will you try first, etc. Like all plans, they never turn out the way you expect (unfortunately the bees never seem to have read the text books and behave the way you thought!). Your mentor can help with all the choices you need to make, and will be able to advise during the early stages of your beekeeping career.

Mentoring

What to expect from the mentoring program at Orpington Beekeepers

Keeping bees is a fascinating and challenging activity. Every time you open/inspect a hive you may discover a new challenge or a new problem to be solved. As a beekeeper it is your job to recognise when things need adjustment in the colony and to take the right corrective action: maybe the colony is preparing to swarm, maybe it needs more space, maybe the queen has died unexpectedly, or maybe there are not enough stores – the list goes on!

To support new beekeepers through the early learning phases, Orpington Beekeepers offers a variety of support activities which can take you from being a complete novice to having a small apiary of your own.

  1. Orpington Beekeepers are blessed with a fantastic apiary at High Elms Country Park, where we manage a number of colonies. If you are interested in learning more about beekeeping then you can arrange to come along, borrow a spare bee suit & gloves from us, and join us as we inspect the colonies. This can be a very good way to find out whether beekeeping might be for you and everyone is welcome with no experience necessary.
  2. An introduction to beekeeping course is held most years in April/May with theory sessions held in the BEECHE centre and practical sessions at the Apiary. Please do book if you are interested, as places are limited.
  3. We normally ask new beekeepers to attend this course, and for new beekeepers who are keen to go on afterwards to establish their own colonies, we will assign a mentor.
  4. We visit the apiary every Saturday during late Spring/Summer, and bee handling and other demonstration sessions are available for new beekeepers.
  5. This will allow you to open a hive and perform a proper inspection with the guidance of an experienced beekeeper, who will talk you through what to look for and how to read the colony. We can also arrange demonstrations of frame building, honey extraction, lighting a smoker, or even queen rearing if there is demand.
  6. As you become confident with the bees and feel ready to take on your own apiary, you can get advice from your mentor or other members of Orpington Beekeepers about the hardware and tools that you will need. There are choices about the style of hive you use, the bee suit you buy, etc. I have yet to meet a beekeeper without an opinion on these matters! You can also get advice on suitable locations to set up your hive considering sunlight/shade, flight-path, working access, public safety, etc.
  7. Once you have the necessary equipment, are a signed up member of Orpington beekeepers, and your mentor is confident that you can handle your own apiary, you can receive a swarm. You may even be asked to help collect the swarm.This will be re-housed into your hive and you will have started your own apiary!

Note that the association normally makes a nominal charge per swarm (currently £20). This is significantly cheaper than buying a nucleus colony commercially.

Your mentor will likely help you establish your new colony, and work with you to ensure that the colony is developing as it should. This activity has to be on site in your apiary, as that is where your bees are. You will rely on the mentor less and less as you build in confidence. However Orpington Beekeepers are always a phone call or email away if help or advice is needed!

Finally, we are pretty flexible and pragmatic. The process described above is a guideline and not a hard and fast set of rules. If you are enthusiastic about bee keeping you will find many like-minded people at Orpington Beekeepers who are keen to help you develop your interest.

If you are interested in working with one of our mentors please contact our mentor coordinator 

 

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