

The SDBKA is a group of over 160 hobbyist beekeepers who meet regularly to discuss beekeeping matters and offer advice and support to fellow beekeepers.
In the autumn and winter months (September to March), we hold regular meetings, typically on the third Wednesday of each month (except December); and in the spring and summer, we visit our Association and private apiaries, and attend flower and agricultural shows to encourage newcomers to the craft.
We hold an annual training course for members who are new to beekeeping, which takes place in the spring. We have recently set up an Association Apiary at the Rifles Museum in Salisbury Cathedral Close, to help with training — particularly new beekeepers. This year we have run theory and practical demonstrations online, as well as practical hands-on sessions at the Association Apiary.
The SDBKA is managed by a committee of eleven members, who endeavour to arrange an interesting programme of winter talks and summer events. The Association was started by enthusiasts in 1907, and has links with other groups in surrounding Counties and with other associations through its membership of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA). If you’re interested in joining us, you can find out more about our Full and Associate Membership options on our Membership page.
We encourage all our members keeping bees to register with BeeBase which is a national database used by the National Bee Unit for tracking and monitoring bee disease. Click here to access the registration documents and further details.
FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
Unfortunately, due to a private booking at the Rifles museum, our social event planned for Sunday 12th September 2021 wasn't able to go ahead. We are keen to have an outdoor social, and will try to arrange this in the spring.
We now have a schedule of talks arranged for the winter months, as below, with remote speakers. Due to difficulties with booking the Radnor Hall at Bodenham and the current high rates of Covid, we've decided that the first two of these will be by Zoom only. We hope we may be able to move to mixed online/in-person meetings in the new year.
As last year, recordings of talks are available on the members' area of the site, here.
2021:
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Wednesday 13th October, 7.30pm – John Haverson on 'Varroa Resistant Honeybees - through Natural Selection in the home apiary'
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Wednesday 10th November, 7.30pm – Kevin Thorn on 'What beekeepers worry about but don’t need to'
2022:
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Wednesday 19th January, 7.00pm – AGM, followed at 7.30pm by a talk by Roger Patterson on BIBBA's NatBIP programme and how Associations and their members can help provide locally-adapted bees
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Wednesday 16th February, 7.30pm – David Evans on 'Rational Varroa control'
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Wednesday 16th March, 7.30pm – Robert Smith on 'Bee Anatomy'

LOCAL HONEY FOR SALE
If you are looking to buy local honey from our members, look no further! There's a list below of our members advertising their own honey currently for sale.
Member's Name | Where to get their Honey | Postcode | Telephone | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phil | Downlands, Mount Pleasant, Stoford, Salisbury | SP2 0PP | 07713026598 | |
Mark Sines | 18 Norfolk Rd, Salisbury | SP2 8HG | 07917801658 | |
Dom Corcoran | Harnham ( 39 Bouchers Way) | SP2 8RW | 07879 228823 | |
Suzy Clark | Eastgates, Figsbury Rings, Salisbury | SP4 6DT | 07873255590 | |
Felton Kelly | 129 East Gomeldon Road, East Gomeldon | SP4 6NB | 01980 610113 | |
Daphne Ince | Middle Woodford | SP4 6NR | 01722 782532 | |
Robin Rimmer | Ashley Cottage, Southampton Rd, Whaddon, Salisbury | SP5 3EB | 01722 711066 |
