New Forest Beekeepers' Association - New Forest Bees - Hampshire Beekeepers - Queen Breeding

NEW FOREST BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

New Forest Beekeepers - Queen Breeding Group

The New Forest Beekeepers' Association queen breeding group was set up by a number of association members with the aim of breeding local queen bees, from local New Forest Bees, for local beekeepers.  By using local bees, the group hopes to preserve the strain of bee that is suitable for the New forest Environment.

The aim of the Queen Breeding project

The aim is to supply locally breed queen bees that are quiet, easy to handle, productive and above all suitable to the New Forest environment. Such a project needs a little more effort than normal beekeeping and to breed queens from colonies that exhibit desirable traits.

The queens would be available to members of the New Forest beekeepers Association at a fraction of the cost of an imported queen bee.

Warborne Farm

The project is based at Warborne Farm, in a large organic fruit field which ensures that the bees are not disturbed unnecessarily, and allows “stray” drone bees to be kept at a minimum whilst the virgin queens are on their mating flights.

The hives are mounted within panelled wooden sheds.  The bees still have access to the hives through covered cut out in the shed walls.   Mounting the hives within the sheds allows manipulation of the bees in a protected environment minimising disturbance from weather.

Queens & Nucleus Colonies

Surplus queens would be available to members of the New Forest beekeepers Association at a fraction of the cost of an imported queen bee.  They would also be available for sale to local beekeepers and occasional specialists from further afield individually or as part of a nucleus colony.

Wildlife & Habitat

The habitat is part of an organic farm and in addition to Queen breeding, the project aims to use the site to further develop the New Forest Beekeepers Associations’ education programme to inspire people to discover the wonders of beekeeping and the importance of bees within an unspoilt natural environment.