During 2026 the programme of school visits continued and now that we have a new Training and Education facility such events can take place either at the schools or at the Apiary.
Early visitors were 6th Morpeth Scouts, Ford School and Alnwick Scouts. Each group greatly enjoyed their visits and photos of 6th Morpeth Scouts’ visit are below.
Further visits are planned for several other schools as well as Widdrington Scouts and Alnwick Cubs.
If any other member of ADBKA would like to be part of this highly enjoyable ADBKA education event and wishes to join the team, then please contact the ADBKA secretary in the first instance.
ADBKA has offered school visits for many years but the programme was restarted in 2025. The following is some more information of what happened in 2025.
- Background to ADBKA’s schools programme
Early in 2025 ADBKA decided to re-establish its programme of school visits, which had been discontinued since the onset of COVID. Coincidently, the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) decided to promote school visits by providing participating Associations with a range of material and financial support. And so, ADBKA visited five First Schools within the Association’s catchment area of Northumberland, north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Eight members of ADBKA planned and delivered the programme over the summer of 2025 and pleasingly the work they did was very well received as evidenced by this feedback.
“Your visit to school was an amazing experience for us. It was extremely well organised “
“We would love to participate again”
2. Schools visited
The ADBKA team visited five schools and made presentations to a total of ten classes of between twenty-four and thirty children aged eight to ten. They also talked to the Alnwick Scout Group . The schools were:
- Tweedmouth Prior Park First School
- Tweedmouth West County First School
- Abbeyfields First School Morpeth
- Longhoughton Primary School
- Morpeth First School
3. The presentations
At all the presentations the children were engaged, attentive and asked numerous questions. Some of the children were already well informed about honey bees but all said they had enjoyed the visit and had learned a lot about honey bees, their importance as pollinators and the life cycle of the honey bee.
They also said that they enjoyed trying on bee suits and tasting the honey! Equally pleasing to receive were comments from Teachers and Supervisors who said:
“The children particularly enjoyed the interactive games like the “Waggle Dance” and the opportunity to create their own bee-themed crafts to take home”
“Your recent bee workshop was an absolute hit with the Children. From the moment the session began their faces lit up with curiosity and excitement.”
4. Going forward
Several of the Schools indicated that they would be interested in a repeat visit in 2026 and so ADBKA intends to continue with a programme of workshop sessions with school children. These will be a combination of visits to schools and also sessions at our new Eshott Apiary Training Facility.
Thank you
In 2025 eight members worked to ensure these visits happened and we are very grateful for all their time and dedication. They all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Alnwick and District Beekeepers Association 
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