The wonderful world of honey bees (beekeeping experience)
Got a personal interest? Looking for a quirky special gift for a birthday, Christmas or other special occasion? Why not buy a beekeeping experience gift voucher as a present.
Come and explore the wonderful world of honey bees and beekeeping at our apiary in Alloway, South Ayrshire. During this three hour experience you will learn all about honey bees – interesting facts; who lives in the hive; the lifecycle of the honey bee and how they make honey and beeswax.
We will also take a good look at the equipment that you need and the beekeeping year. We’ll look in detail at the various bits that make up a beehive and you’ll also make your own simple beeswax candle to take home.
After dressing up in ‘the beekeeping gear’ (provided), we will make our way down to the Apiary where we will get in close and personal with the bees on a live hive inspection.
You can also follow our bee exploits via our Doonbank Cottage Facebook Page.
Dates:
We have been asked to publish 2024 dates:
- Dates for 2024 public experiences – 12.30pm – 3.30pm:
- Sat 18th May 2024
- Sat 1st June 2024
- Sun 28th July 2024
- Sun 11th August 2024
- Dates for 2025 public experiences – 12.30pm – 3.30pm
- Sunday 25th May 2025
- Saturday 21st June 2025
- Sunday 20th July 2025
- Saturday 16th August 2025
If you are are not staying in our Bothy, and outside the dates listed above, we are happy to run private sessions just for your group, as long as there are between 4 and 6 people and that any children are over the age of 9. Give Chris a shout via email: ([email protected]), or phone: 01292 441 825 / 07919 497 756 to arrange a convenient date. You can then buy the appropriate number of vouchers. We are happy to run both weekday and weekend sessions. If you ARE staying in the Bothy and would like to add an experience to your stay, simply purchase the required number of vouchers and let us know |
What you need to know:
- We can only go into the hive if it’s not raining and/or the temperature is above 14 degrees.
- Venue: Doonbank Cottage, 89a Glenalla Crescent, Ayr, KA7 4DZ (Classroom and Apiary)
- Timings: 12.30pm – 3.30pm (please arrive at 12.15pm)
- Free off road parking.
- Bee keeping suit and gloves provided.
- Candle making materials provided.
- Tea/coffee/juice and nibbles provided.
- Maximum 6 places.
- Minimum age 9. All children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
What you need to bring:
- Wellington boots
- Wear trousers and long sleeved shirt / sweatshirt / jumper (hoodies are not so good as difficult to get into bee suit!)