Beekeepers get grant for festival (From Somerset County Gazette)

Beekeepers get grant for festival

8:17am Wednesday 10th May 2006

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A festival to celebrate a century of bee keeping in Exmoor has been made possible with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Apiary demonstrations, hive building, candle making, and honey extraction will be on offer at the festival, to be staged by the Somerset Bee Keepers Association next month, together with lectures on beekeeping with the Masai in the Kenyan jungle, and managing bee diseases.

Visitors will be able to try their hand at candle making, and Exmoor beekeepers will have honey for sale.

A hive building craftsman will have bee keeping equipment for sale, and a number of Exmoor specialist food producers will have stands.

Wildlife photographer and bee farmer, Richard Bolton, will have a continuous display of wildlife, alongside hundreds of images of beekeeping, and national bee inspectors will be on hand for advice and information.

There will also be archery and falconry demonstrations, and craft and food stalls.

The grant will also enable the association to further equip the divisional apiary where the hives are kept, and establish new hives for beginners.

The association has seen resurgence in membership since January this year when it sponsored a seven-session course on beekeeping, which attracted 36 regular attendees.

The festival takes place at Allercott Farm, Timberscombe, on June 10, between 10am-4pm.

Admission £3, with under 14s free.

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