2019 was a busy year for the club and it looks like 2020 will be even more so. This section will be updated regularly throughout the year, so check back every now and then to see what’s on in the near future. Dates and events are listed below, with those in italics to be finalised as we go through the year. Summer meetings, in the active beekeeping season (April – October), start at 2.00 pm while the winter meetings start at 2.30 pm.
January
Friday 10th – Winter social event at the Monument in Whitstable (7-7:30 start)
Monday 13th – Club committee meeting
Tuesday 21st – Honey Bee biology course (in Herne Mill and every Tuesday until 17th March)
February
Saturday 1st – Monthly meeting, starting at 2.30 pm, at Herne Mill. The title of the talk is “African beekeeping: working with rural communities in Uganda and Zambia”. The talk will be given by Stuart Andrews and will cover personal experiences of working with local partners in-country on behalf of Bees Abroad (https://beesabroad.org.uk/). It will include the importance of setting up and managing the apiary based primarily on the use of top-bar hives. Stuart is a biologist with a PhD in veterinary parasitology. “Retired” in 2018. Member of Canterbury Beekeepers and former Trustee and Vice-Chairman of Bees Abroad; currently BA project manager for Uganda and Zambia.
Saturday 29th – Beginners course (day 1 in Herne Mill)
March
Sunday 1st – Beginners course (day 2 in Herne Mill)
Saturday 7th – Monthly meeting “Bee handling, health & hygiene” – talk by Julie Coleman (indoor meeting)
Saturday 28th – Monthly meeting “Hive inspection -why?” April meeting brought forward to avoid conflict with BBKA event below.
April
Friday 3rd – Monday 5th – Info only – BBKA Spring Convention
May
Saturday 2nd – Monthly meeting “Comb change – why?”
June
Saturday 6th – Monthly meeting “Disease”
July
Saturday 4th – Monthly meeting “The honey harvest”
August
Saturday 1st – Monthly meeting “Disease inspection”
September
Saturday 5th – Monthly meeting “Feeding bees as part of winter preparations”
October
Saturday 3rd – Monthly meeting “Winter preparation”
November
Saturday 7th – Branch AGM
December
Saturday 5th – Monthly meeting “Winter lecture – guest speaker“
