Come and meet the bees! In the beautiful, idyllic countryside of Crowborough, East Sussex. Learn more about the honey bee, their incredible ways of communication, behaviour and experience a thrilling but relaxing and mindful day handling Steve's Bees gentle bees in an active hive. You will be immersed in the fascinating world of these amazing creatures. Whether you want to start your own bee keeping adventure one day, or would just like to experience being a bee keeper for a few hours.
Bee Encounters are for 2-3 hours depending on group size and are an introduction to bee keeping. Limited to up to 6 people so that optimum time is spent doing the exciting part of handling the bees.
You will have a hands on experience of bee keeping with Jo. The day will include a short talk about the life cycle of the bee, equipment that is used, honey tasting and a hands on look inside an active bee hive in the apiary surrounded by a number of active hives.
You will learn about the different stages of brood in the hive, work as a group to locate the queen amongst her thousands of workers and be able to distinguish between a worker and a drone.
You will also get plenty of time to just watch the bees at work. Watch their behaviour, take in their smell, allow the therapeutic hum of the colony to immerse you in their fascinating world. You will come away relaxed having spent time in "bee keeping therapy". All bee suits and equipment will be provided along with tea and biscuits.
Please bring with you a pair of wellies and marigolds.
If you have any special requests regarding groups, special occasions, disability access, etc please do contact me. I will always try hard to accommodate customer needs.
These Encounter Days are perfect for:-
Please note Bee Encounter Days are weather dependent and may need to be rescheduled if adverse weather conditions prevent the opening of the hives. Please purchase via the shop page.
For those wanting an extra special Bee Encounter Day, please contact Jo who can mould the day into whatever experience you would like.
Ideas for the Extra Special Bee Encounter Day:-
If you would like to get a group of friends together to try something new, different and thrilling then please do get in contact.
Jo purchased her first colony of Steve's Bees from her mentor in East Sussex in her first year of training. It soon came to light these bees were highly sought after due to their extremely calm, hygienic behaviour and prolific egg laying rate of the queen. Jo has since ensured she has retained this fantastic breeding line and grown the apiary around it. Along with 2 other breeding lines within the apiary, Jo will only tolerate calm and quiet queens which gives the best experience within the apiary.
The queen of a honey bee colony is the most important member of the colony. The characteristics and health of a colony is determined by the queen. The queen will secrete a pheromone that controls her colony and if the queen is calm, then her colony will be also.
Steve’s Bees are so calm and quiet that even Jo’s little helpers get involved.
