THE first Okehampton Beekeepers' meetings of the New Year was held on January 9.

Around 40 members, including some new to the branch, attended the meeting at Whiddon Down Village Hall to hear a talk and visual display by branch committee member Simon O'Sullivan.

This talk followed his visit last year to a workshop organised by Sussex University's LASI project. The workshop described research into the interaction between plants, honeybees and other insect pollinators.

Simon's presentation included photographs of LASI apiaries used for Queen breeding, and research into the insect and plant symbiosis.

There were also photos of the several sites used by LASI for growing forage plants to support the study.

This enabled the effects of a variety of soil types to be included in investigations.

Simon concluded his talk with a series of photographs of bees and other insects foraging on plants at LASI and also in his own nursery at Granny's Meadow.

The next meeting of Okehampton Beekeepers is scheduled for 7.30pm on Thursday, February 13 at Whiddon Down Village Hall.

The meeting will be Beekeepers' Question Time, providing an opportunity to raise beekeeping queries for general discussion with other members.