Join Our Beekeeping Community

Welcome to Hastings and Rother Beekeeping Association

Join our friendly community of beekeepers in East Sussex, where we share knowledge, support each other, and promote the art of beekeeping for all experience levels.

Beekeeping Community

Join our friendly group supporting beekeeping in Hastings & Rother, East Sussex.

New to Beekeeping

Hive Management

We need to ensure that the bees we keep are at their healthiest as wild bees are decreasing in number. This requires the need to recognise health problems and knowing the best course of action.

Social Events

We hold regular meetings all year round; in the winter we hold talks and demonstrations so that come the spring, summer and autumn we can be out giving our bees the best care possible. Our summer meetings take place at the association apiary where hives are opened for inspection (weather permitting!).
Every year in September we have a show in which our members can enter their honey, honeycomb, wax, cakes, candles and photographs. There are other opportunities to show our Honey at the National Honey Show [held in October] and the South of England Show in June.

Keeping bees is a fascinating and rewarding hobby and, if you’re just starting out (or thinking of doing so!) we would strongly recommend you join your local beekeeping association (these exist all over the country) who will be able to provide you information, training and guidance – at Hastings and Rother, we welcome non-members who would like to experience a “taster” of beekeeping before taking the plunge. Please contact us for more information on our next meeting.

Beekeeping is a fascinating hobby – however it can be daunting when starting out, especially when you begin reading up on it or speak to people who already keep bees – a plethora of new and unfamiliar terms, and a seemingly mystic art of bee husbandry with jealously guarded secrets (and, you’ll soon discover, many strong and differing opinions on how best to keep bees!)

Fear not though – almost anyone of any age can become a beekeeper – all it needs is some basic knowledge and commitment to ensure the well-being of your bees. You will need to commit a certain amount of time each week from March to November to care for your hives and you will need to be able to lift and move parts of the hive around during inspections. This can mean a fair amount of exertion, especially during the harvest moving frames full of honey (20-30lb per box!)- however beekeepers are a friendly bunch and there are always others around who will be glad to help out.

The best way to get started is to talk to us about what is involved – that way you will get a very comprehensive feel of what beekeeping entails, and whether it is something for you. If you don’t know any beekeepers, your local beekeeping association is teeming with them, and most will be delighted to share their experiences with you!