Contact Us

A number of members of Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association (OBKA) have honey that they are prepared to sell to members of the public. We have a map of their locations and contact details here:

Buy Local Honey

Please note that any transactions with the member are between the OBKA member and the member of the public buying their produce. Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association is not responsible for any goods that you might choose to purchase from its members.

During the summer Oxfordshire BKA and other local beekeeping associations often have stands at local village shows where honey is for sale. OBKA regularly sells honey from its apiary at the  Blenheim Flower Show, held in June each year.

Expect to pay anywhere between £6.00 and £10.00 for a one pound jar of locally produced honey.

We do have a number of members who are prepared to give talks to various groups. However their availability and the distance they are prepared to travel to give a talk are very much up to them.

If you give us some details (see below) we will contact our members to see if anyone is prepared to give the talk you are requesting and if they are, we will ask the member to contact you directly. We cannot of course guarantee that anyone will respond to your request.

You can either use the Contact Us form or email the OBKA secretary directly at secretary@obka.org.uk.

Please include the location / dates and time of when you would like the talk with your request.

OBKA is happy to promote any relevant beekeeping event, for example a talk or a training session, run by a non-commercial organisation. We make no change for this. As a registered charity, we are unwilling to promote beekeeping events run solely as a commercial venture.

We will place you advertisement on our website based on text you supply. If you use the Contact Us form (found here) there is a limit on the form of 150 words; if this is insufficient then please send an email with all the relevant details of the event to the OBKA Webmaster.

If appropriate we will also include the same advert in our monthly Newsletter which is issued at the start of each month.

We rely on volunteers to edit the website and the newsletter and cannot guarantee that your advertisement will appear on a particular date.

We do have a number of members who are prepared to give talks to schools. However their availability and the age groups they are prepared to talk to are very much up to them.

If you give us some details (see below) we will contact our members to see if anyone is prepared to give the talk you are requesting and if they are, we will ask the member to contact you directly. We cannot of course guarantee that anyone will respond to your request.

You can either use the Contact Us form or email the OBKA secretary directly at secretary@obka.org.uk.

Please include the following details with your request:

• Age of children / school year / number in group / interest of group
  
  
• Address / name of school / group etc.
  
  
• Your name and contact details
  
  
• Proposed dates and times.

Beekeepers always welcome the opportunities for new apiary sites.
What we can do on your behalf is to place an advert in our monthly Newsletter (we publish at the start of each month) and on our website. We have over 200 members across Oxfordshire so it is likely someone will express an interest.

Please tell us where the land is, for example the nearest village or town, and whether there are any restrictions on the use of the land, for example times when access would not be permitted.

If you are content for your contact details to be made available to all our members, we will include them in the advert. If you would prefer to keep your details confidential, we can ask our members to use our secretary as an intermediary. Please state which option you would prefer.

To advertise your potential apiary site on our website and in our newsletter please either complete the Contact Us form here with your relevant details or contact our Secretary directly at secretary@obka.org.uk

What makes a good apiary site?

Please be aware that when a beekeeper is looking for an apiary away from their home (we call them ‘out-apiaries’) they will need to consider a number of factors to decide if the location is suitable to keep bees. These factors include:

• General suitability of the site, for example is it near near a public road or footpath where people might be disturbed by (or disturb) the bees
  
  
• Access – is it possible to drive a  car to reasonably near to where the hives will be located.  There can be a lot of heavy equipment that the beekeeper needs to move to and from the site at different times of the year. More generally will there be any restrictions when the beekeeper can access the site.
  
  
• The number of hives that can be kept on the site. This number can suddenly increase if the beekeeper needs to ‘split’ one or more hives to prevent the bees swarming.
  
  
• The security of site – for example is there a locked gate to the area where the hives will be located.
  
  
• Protection of hives from damage by farm animals. Cattle proof fencing may be required if there are horses or cattle in neighbouring fields.
  
  
• Is there any likelihood that crops in adjacent fields could be sprayed and if so, would htere be a mechanism to alert the beekeeper.
  
  
• The nature of any payment for the apiary site – typically, beekeepers pay in jars of honey!
  
  
• Termination of arrangement
  
  
• Insurance

We run a Beginners Course, designed to teach new beekeepers how to look after honey bees. For those who are not quite sure if they want to commit to the Beginners course we also run a Taster day. Information on both of these is on the Learning about Beekeeping section of this website.

We have a lot of information about swarms on our dedicated Swarms Page, including further FAQs..

We have a form dedicated to these types of request on this page on the website. More details are on the page with the form.