THE last winter season meeting of Okehampton Beekeepers departed from the normal format of having a guest speaker, with branch members taking centre stage instead.

Members brought along examples of different beehives, sharing the relative merits and drawbacks of each.

Nine designs were brought in, including two examples of the increasingly popular top bar hive, which favours a simple approach to beekeeping and dispenses with the need for frames and foundation.

One of the most interesting hives was a rare catenary hive brought in by Ray King. First developed in the 1960s, the hive seeks to mimic the bees' natural tendency to build comb in a parabolic shape rather than the rectangular shape of a normal hive.

The group also looked at a dadant hive, a giant hive originally designed in the USA, the traditional WBC hive, British National hive and the Smith hive.

The next Okehampton Beekeepers' event is their annual dinner, at the Tom Cobley Inn in Spreyton on Friday April 20. The dinner leads into the summer programme of monthly meetings at members' own apiaries.