OKEHAMPTON Beekeepers held the second of their July meetings on July 23 at the apiary of Will and Kay Pyne in Sticklepath.

Eighteen members participated in inspections of eight colonies of bees in the apiary site Will shares with Maggie Gill.

Inspections started with inspections of the hives divided between Glyn Berrington and Will.

There were difficulties with Will's first hive inspection, unable to spot the queen due to the presence of brace comb in the brood frames. The second hive inspection was smoother, with all the frames fully intact. Members were able to see good examples of queen eggs, and the queen was marked with this year's colour, white.

The third colony was created in April, and despite fears of little to no pollen gathering, the colony had raised a new queen who is now laying well. The queen was also found and marked in the fourth colony checked by Will.

Glyn inspected Maggie Gill's three national colonies. Two of the housed queens had already been found and marked, and the queen was successfully found and marked in the third colony.

Following the inspections the meeting was adjourned so that members could enjoy a 'bring and share' tea in Will and Kay's garden.

The next event for the group is at Okehampton Show, which will feature the Okehampton Beekeepers' marquee, housing candle rolling, honey tasting and the observaion hive, plus exhibits of honey and beeswax products. Locally produced honey will be on sale at the event.

The group's next meeting is an evening session hosted by Louisa Mogford at Castle Drogo on Wednesday August 24.