About PBKA
ABOUT US
PEEBLESSHIRE BEEKEEPERS
Established in 1919. The Peeblesshire Beekeepers Association provides a range of benefits for its members
From education to training, winter lectures, loan equipment, group purchases and more.
EDUCATION
MENTORSHIP
LOAN EQUIPMENT
PEEBLESSHIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
Membership of the Peeblesshire Beekeepers Association costs £10.00 per year, and is open to all who are interested in bees and beekeeping.
Meetings
We arrange a program of winter lectures and summer apiary visits.
Mentorship
Start your bee keeping journey the right way with an association mentor.
Education
We run beginners classes most years. Beginners can work with bees at our apiary under supervision of a mentor.
We also arrange a variety of specialist courses, often hosted at our own apiary.
Association Apiary
We have our own apiary where we host visits, practical demonstrations and training courses.
Loan Equipment
We have honey extraction and other equipment available for hire, can organise bulk purchases at discount, and arrange training courses.
BEEKEEPING IN PEEBLESSHIRE
Long history of bee keeping in Peeblesshire
Beekeeping was already well-established in the area, and even recorded in literature, as Walter Scott’s “Black Dwarf” – based on David Ritchie of Manor – mentions “Elshie” in his cottage garden with his beehives. A photograph of around 1910 shows “Peebles Beekeepers and their Assistants” – a summer picnic with big hats and long dresses for the ladies, boaters and flannels for the gentlemen.
In 1904, “Isle of Wight Disease” was first seen in the south of England and it spread rapidly, destroying bee colonies throughout the UK, with some areas losing up to 95% of their colonies. Government action to help limit its effect included funding the East of Scotland College of Agriculture, which appointed lecturers (to teach and improve beekeeping standards) and created an apiary which produced replacement bees for members of local Associations.
Type of beekeeping
Local beekeeping is relatively small scale, which results in a very high quality product. The majority of members maintain less than 10 colonies; a few have up to 20 hives, but there are no commercial beekeepers (ie with 100 or more hives) in the area as far as we’re aware.
Migratory beekeeping is practised by only a few beekeepers – in our area it mainly consists of taking hives to the moors for the heather honey.
Forage
In 1904, “Isle of Wight Disease” was first seen in the south of England and it spread rapidly, destroying bee colonies throughout the UK, with some areas losing up to 95% of their colonies. Government action to help limit its effect included funding the East of Scotland College of Agriculture, which appointed lecturers (to teach and improve beekeeping standards) and created an apiary which produced replacement bees for members of local Associations.
Historic beekeeping
We know that many farms and cottages had a couple of skeps in the garden – centuries ago honey was virtually the only sweetener. However there are few surviving traces of this – one example is the bee boles (to hold straw skeps) in the churchyard wall at West Linton. There are probably more examples to be discovered.
The museum at St Ronan’s Wells, Innerleithen has a beekeeping display featuring Willie Smith of Innerleithen, one of many pioneering and well-known beekeepers from this area.
Famous local beekeeprs
Willie Smith of Innerleithen
Jim Bogle of Peebles
John & Morna Stoakley of Stobo & Peebles