OKEHAMPTON Beekeepers paid a special visit to Castle Drogo for their fifth summer meeting.

The group met at the orchard apiary, established last year. The group inspected the hives and transferred queens into a queen excluder.

The evening meeting concluded with a tour of Castle Drogo's grounds, led by head gardener John Rippin. The tour finished in the main flower garden, and John explained work undertaken in recent years to improve the garden.

The next summer meeting is on Saturday July 28 at Will and Kay Pyne's apiary in Sticklepath.