Plans advance for new honey bee centre in north Dorset

The idea of creating a centre was hatched by the North Dorset Beekeepers Association charity, with the plot set to be built at Holloway Farm in Shillingstone, near Blandford Forum.

On June 8, a significant milestone in the project was reached when the boundary of the new plot was 'pegged out'.

Over the past year, a lease had been negotiated with Dorset Council for the half-acre site and now the boundary has been clearly marked out. 

Geoff Buckland, chairman of the North Dorset Beekeepers Association said: “It’s another step along the road towards realising our plans for a honey bee centre where everyone, young and old, can learn about the importance of the honey bee in our world and what can be done to ensure they’re still around in years to come."

Currently, a church hall is being used for formal teaching about honey bees and the association’s bee hives are located on land owned by the Forum School.

However the hives are remote, with two stiles and a field to be negotiated from the nearest road, and there’s no power, water or other facilities, which kickstarted the idea of creating a state-of-the-art new centre. 

Nearly £200,000 was needed to create the new site at Holloway Farm and planning permission has already been granted by Dorset Council.  

Tim Villiers, part of the association's working group, said: “It’s a lot of money for a small charity like us to raise. 

"We already have planning permission for our building and seeing the plot marked out today has made it all very real, but we’re going to give it a go.

"We need to convince others just how important the honey bee is to us humans and that our new centre will help spread the word in Dorset.

"If anyone out there would like to help us, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact us via the website at www.northdorsetbeekeepers.org.uk."

Donations to the project can be made via Just Giving at https://tinyurl.com/bdf4kefc