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Annual Calendar (course events in blue)

Event	Date & Place	Content	Comment / Ten Minute Talk
Monthly I&ES BKA meeting	Wed 6 Jan 7:30pm Scout Hall, Kesgrave	Hawk Honey: Wasps	David Parrott - Hive tool hygiene
Monthly I&ES BKA meeting	Wed 3 Feb 7:30pm Scout Hall, Kesgrave	David Evans, The Apiarist: Raising queen honey bees	I&ES BKA AGM
Course 1^st session	Mon 1 Mar 7.30 - 9:30pm, Dallinghoo Village Hall	General overview of bees and bee behaviour.	Mostly about Honey Bees – a scene setter for understanding
Monthly I&ES BKA meeting	Wed 3 Mar 7:30pm Scout Hall, Kesgrave	Helen Fincham: Fincham Fine Flowers	Phil Ramsey – The Teaching Apiary
Course 2^nd session	Mon 8 Mar 7.30pm	Beekeeping equipment – what to buy and what not.	In the end, you have to make up your own mind. We will be giving you some suppliers’ catalogues. If you want advice, please ask.
Course 3^rd session	Mon 15 Mar 7.30pm	The beekeeping year – centred, naturally, on flowering plants.	What happens and what you need to do.
Course 4^th session	Mon 21 Mar 7.30pm	An overview: forage, honey, wax & stings.	Bringing things together
Course 5^th session	Mon 5 Apr 7:30pm	Pests and diseases. Sources of information. Want a beekeeping mentor?	Problems. How to get started
Cambridge One Day Seminar	Not yet decided	4 speakers; a very good day; includes lunch	The Old Divinity School, St. John’s College; ‘early bird’ discounts available. Parking extra!
Easter	Sun 28 March 2027
Monthly I&ES BKA meeting	Wed 7 Apr 7:30pm Scout Hall, Kesgrave	Kevin Thorn: The Abberton Native Bee Group	Helen Thorne – Beekeeping in Uganda
BBKA Spring Convention	9 - 11 Apr	Many excellent talks; many suppliers of bee equipment; first class social.	Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB Accommodation very limited – book early! www.bbka.org.uk/springconvention
Course 6^th session	Sat 17 Apr 2:00–4:00pm	Handling bees	In our Wherstead teaching apiary. Location map provided. For ½ the group
Course 6^th session	Sun 18 Apr 2:00–4:00pm	Handling bees	In our Wherstead teaching apiary. Location map provided. For the other ½ of the group
Course final session	Sun 25 Apr 10:00–4:00pm	Bee Health Day, practical bee handling, meet our Bee Inspector.	Please tell Jeremy if you cannot attend. There may be another similar event elsewhere.
Wherstead Teaching Apiary opens	? Sun 25 Apr 14:00-16:00	See website: I&ESBKA Training Apiary
SUFFOLK SHOW	26-27 May	All hands to the pumps!

Other regular Activities

Event	Date & Place	Content	Comment / Ten Minute Talk
WhatsApp	I&ES BKA WhatsApp Group	Whatever!	To join, call Richard Allen: secretary.iesbka@suffolkbeekeepers.co.uk or 07889 028573.
Felixstowe Beekeepers	See comment	Discussion group	Meets 3^rd THURSDAY of each winter month (except December) in the Kirton Pavilion, 2 Back Rd, Kirton, IP10 0QQ, What3words location ///florists.twitchy.cartoons. starting at 7:30. All are welcome. Contact: Chris Stephens chris.stephens@btinternet.com
Saturdays @ The Anchor, Stratford St Mary	2^nd Saturdays of month	Bees, breakfast, coffee & chat 10:00 – 12:00.	A chance to stop and chat informally about bees, or anything else, with other beekeepers. The Anchor, Stratford St Mary CO7 6LW. Only in winter months. Please tell Sal Thurlow: salthurlow@gmail.com by email, WhatsApp or 07721 625313 if you are coming so we have enough seats (or cancel if we don't). Everyone is welcome.

Association

Ipswich & East Suffolk

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Branch

Ipswich & East Suffolk

“The best introductory beekeeping course in East Anglia!” Begins 1st March 2027

The aim of the course is to allow those with no previous knowledge or experience to start keeping bees. This is a very short course so, if you take it and wish to keep bees successfully, you can’t afford to miss a single session. To underpin the instruction, within reasonable limits, we offer advice and assistance afterwards.

Since most of the course will take place before bee colonies can safely be opened (April to September), it is important that, if you can, you make arrangements to look into a colony of honey bees in the season before the course starts; if it isn’t already too late in the year when you read this, we can help; please ask. I cannot emphasise too strongly that there is no substitute for opening an active colony of honey bees with an experienced beekeeper. You might try being stung too!

When and where

This year the course will run on five Monday evenings from 1st March between 7.30 and 9.30pm. Easter is early in 2027 so our last session will be 5 April. This is the classroom, theoretical, part and will be held in the Dallinghoo Jubilee Hall IP13 0JX. The dates and brief details are listed in the course calendar which should accompany this. Sessions include an afternoon in our Wherstead teaching apiary on 10th or 11th April from 2 to 4 pm - you choose which - and a grand finale all-day session from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday 25th April – a day you can’t afford to miss.

The fee for our Course is currently £60.00. For a second person at the same address, we offer the course at half price, but the pair will get only one set of notes. If you want to take the course but can’t afford the fee, please ask - reductions and waivers are available.

Continued learning

The handouts provided will not cover all you need to know. While you are encouraged to borrow books from either public libraries and/or this Association’s, you will need one of your own to refer to when uncertain what to do. At least one general book on beekeeping is essential - start reading and absorbing this as soon as possible. Two books are not better than one as different viewpoint may clash.

Recommended reading:

The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping Davis

Practical Beekeeping Clive de Bruyn

Guide to Bees & Honey Ted Hooper

Bee Manual A & C Waring

Get started in beekeeping Adrian and Claire Waring

Beekeeping: A Seasonal Guide Ron Brown

We suggest you buy yours from Northern Bee Books, Scout Bottom Farm, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge HX7 5JS; Northern Bee Books. You will also need a notepad; A4 is best since this is the size of the handouts. Our library also has some good introductory books and DVDs; please borrow them.

Don't delay!

If you are thinking seriously about taking our course, please do not wait until nearer the day but get in touch; places are limited. Not long ago we were fully booked six months in advance; most years we have to refuse late applicants.

About our instructors

Jeremy has been keeping bees since 1985 and is a BBKA Master Beekeeper, currently one of only four in Suffolk. Brett Bayliss has been keeping bees since 2018. He is a BBKA Qualified Beekeeper and holds the BBKA Intermediate Theory Certificate. In his ‘spare time’ Brett runs a small beekeeping business, producing honey, beeswax and other hive products. Our relaxed and friendly approach is ideal for helping beginners feel confident around bees and get the most from the early stages of their beekeeping journey.

As far as we know, our local agricultural college, Suffolk Rural, does not currently offer an introductory beekeeping course.

The British Beekeepers' Association

Those intending to keep bees in Suffolk are strongly advised to join one of the six beekeepers’ associations allied to the Suffolk BKA. Membership provides £10M third party insurance cover via the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) and a ready source of advice and help. Members are most welcome to attend any Suffolk beekeepers’ meeting. See: https://www.suffolkbeekeepers.co.uk

Any introductory course can only be the very early beginnings of your grasp of the practical, complex arts of bee husbandry – you should plan to continue to study. If you are not eager to continue to learn, we course tutors will have failed!

If you have any queries, or a disability which requires some special consideration, please contact Jeremy Quinlan: 01473 737700 or jeremyq@tiscali.co.uk

More details

Be sure to check out the course calendar of events 2027 for more details

Ready to sign-up? Use our online form and register now!

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Association(s)

Suffolk

Location

Wherstead Apiary

Event Time

Sun, 10 May 2026 - 14:00 - Sun, 9 Aug 2026 - 15:00

Every Sunday from 2-4pm, the Teaching at Apiary is open to all, to improve your skills, start your beekeeping journey, or just come and see if you like it. There are suits and gloves (bring wellies!) if you don't have your own. The first half hour is usually a talk and the full programme of week-by-week topics can be found under Associations, (choose Ipswich) then Teaching Apiary and the schedule is down the left of the page. There are three experienced beekeepers there each week, waiting to teach, help and answer your questions.

Everyone is welcome.

Any queries, contact the Ipswich Secretary in the first instance

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Association(s)

Suffolk

Ipswich & East Suffolk

Location

Sproughton and area

Event Time

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 - 09:00 - Sat, 13 Jun 2026 - 12:30

Update - due to (s)low take up by Ipswich members, we are able to take members from the other associations (by confirmation) rather than run the day with too few people - book early to avoid disappointment!

Our Annual Bee Safari is a great day. We visit the apiaries of members of the association, in a different area each year. It is really interesting to see how others are set up and the locations they are using. We have our National Bee Unit inspectors with us and they will lead and inspect all the colonies and point out instances of pests and diseases as we go.

You will need to bring a packed lunch and water, but we will be meeting in a building where there are toilets and water

If you want to be part of it, our places are strictly limited, you need to pre-book with Jon Tuppen, who is kindly coordinating and has organised the apiaries we are due to visit in 2026; around the Sproughton and Copdock area this year. Reserve your place by emailing jon.tuppen@btinternet.com. Further details when your place is confirmed (start and end times are to indicate it is all day, to be confirmed)

It is essential that your bee-suit is spotlessly clean, along with new or clean gloves and boots. The last thing we want to do is import something awful into someone else's apiary! The image below is of the boot bucket we will be bringing (with a brushand the same solution as our cleaning buckets) so that we can all clean our boots between apiaries (the wellies are size 13).