THE fifth meeting of Okehampton Beekeepers' winter season was held on Thursday, February 12 at Whiddon Down Village Hall.

The evening's subject was honeybee swarming, covering aspects, including causes, methods of discouraging swarming and the taking of swarms from various locations.

Led by Okehampton branch swarm co-ordinator, David Stephens, with contributions from vice chair Simon O'Sullivan and branch chair Marian Minton, the meeting was attended by 36 members.

The meeting ended with questions from the audience followed by refreshments, tea, coffee and biscuits.

The branch's final meeting of the winter programme will be on Thursday, March 12 and is to be a talk by the B4 project team on the native black bee and bee improvement in Devon and Cornwall.