by Robbie Baird, North Dorset Beekeepers

Thursday, June 8, was a landmark day for North Dorset Beekeepers, quite literally, as the boundary of their new plot was pegged out at Holloway Farm in Shillingstone.

Geoff Buckland, Chairman of the Association said, “It’s another step along the road towards realising our plans for a honey bee centre where everyone, young and old, can learn about the importance of the honey bee in our world and what can be done to ensure they’re still around in years to come”.

It’s almost two years since the idea was hatched. Currently, a church hall is used for formal teaching, and the Association’s bee hives are located on land owned by the Forum School. We’re very grateful for their use, but the hives are remote, with two stiles and a field to be negotiated from the nearest road, and there’s no power, water or other facilities. That makes it impossible for all but the fully able-bodied to participate in training programmes and makes it difficult, often impossible, to host those who might be interested in the world of the honey bee.

Even before the lease was signed, almost a quarter of the nearly £200,000 needed to build the new centre had been raised. Tim Villiers leads the Association’s “New Apiary Working Group”. He commented, “It’s a lot of money for a small charity like us to raise. We already have planning permission for our building and seeing the plot marked out today has made it all very real! If anyone out there would like to help us, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact us via our website www.northdorsetbeekeepers.org.uk.”

If you’d like to help, donations can be made via Just Giving at https://tinyurl.com/bdf4kefc. And join us on Facebook at https://tinyurl.com/North-Dorset-Beekeepers.