Apiary


Our Apiary development scheme.




Weekend apiary tasks involved changing out some of our aging equipment, hopefully the bees will appreciate it 😁



2022 season


Painting of new hives




Installation of new water storage and treament of drawn frames for the 2022 season ....



....and of course there is always a kettle on the boil 😉

New colourful life at the Apiary. Photos by Grainne.

Gary Gray, DDBKA chairman, said: “The official launch of the Brooke Park Civic Apiary is fantastic for beekeeping enthusiasts in and around the city.


A special tribute has been erected in memory of a stalwart of Derry's beekeeping community. Billy Chambers, who died last year, was a founding and long-time member of Derry & District Beekeepers’ Association (DDBKA).


In Billy's honour, members of the club have erected a plaque in the newly-opened civic apiary at Brooke Park.

The impressive green space in the Rosemount area of the city is now ‘home’ of the local beekeeping enthusiasts’ group.


Located at the lower end of Brooke Park with access from the top of Great James Street, the refurbished area has fully accessible pathways, a covered bee inspection area, and facilities for changing and equipment storage.


“The first phase is only the beginning, and we are looking forward to building on the foundations laid by our late colleague Billy in welcoming a new generation of beekeepers to the apiary.”


For more information on the project, or if you would like to get involved in beekeeping, please email Derry & District Beekeepers’ Association at info@derryanddistrictbeekeepers.com


See below apiary refurbishment.

 Work has begun........

............ progressing well and looking good.

Work being scheduled and co-ordinated by Mickie Harkin, Funding Development Officer for the association.

The scheme consists of putting in wheelchair friendly paths and a new storage unit.  

Paths almost finished, base for shed completed.

 Paths finished, bark laid, some plants planted and hive positions marked.

And a new shed!




AND !!!! we are done, we've just put the finishing touches to the first phase of development at our Brooke Park apiary, we aptly titled it the Bees Knees, and we think that when you see it, you will heartily agree it certainly is just that . We would like to take the opportunity to thank Awards For All for their generous funding and also acknowledge the many individual association members who by working in safe shift patterns managed to get the finishing touches completed. We take our caps off to Rory and his team from Romac Landscapes, who worked tirelessly to ensure that they completed the contract in a safe and compliant manner, their attention to detail made the process very easy.   


This is the first of several development phases that we have planned for the association, more of which we will share at a later date,

however it's safe to say that all of this would be a lot more difficult but for the ongoing support of Derry City and Strabane District Council and in particular Cllr Sandra Duffy who has championed and led on several key environmental issues . 



Daffodils in bloom and so much more to come for pollinators throughout the year.

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