Okehampton Beekeepers recently held the first of their summer meetings.

The first meeting was held at John and Elaine Morgan's apiary at Germansweek on May 6, attended by 15 members and newcomers to the group.

John inspected his colony of bees, housed in a WBC hive, to assess its strength and perform an 'artificial swarm' manipulation.

The exercise moves the beehive from its initial position, placing it on a second hive stand. A new beehive filled with clean frames of foundation is placed on the original stand, and the queen is transferred in to the new hive frame. The old hive is then fed copious amounts of syrup so the young bees raise a new queen while the older bees return to the old hive.

The queen was identified by newcomer Caroline Mott, and the process was continued smoothly. The hives were then closed up and the rest left up to the bees.

The second meeting took place at Station House near Sampford Courtenay on May 26 at Sandra and Robert Blackmore's apiary. Around 20 members attended.

Inspections of the colonies were performed by Glyn Berrington, Malcolm Craig, Will Pyne and Robert Blackmore, with Robert having intricately documented each hive before the inspection to assist those looking in the hives.

The inspections showed that the increase of swarms from three colonies to ten had left some without a queen. Inspections were concluded and followed by a bring and share tea.

The group will continue to hold meetings throughout the summer.