Workshops

The National Honey Show holds a number of workshops and demonstrations to assist new or less experienced exhibitors in the art and skills of preparing some items for honey show classes and to help raise the general standard of exhibits as well as other beekeeping related topics.

Please be aware that only National Honey Show Members and those with a daily admission ticket can attend Lectures and book into workshops and or demonstrations.

PLEASE READ THE WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION to make sure the workshop is for you: some workshops require you to bring equipment e.g. Honeybee Anatomy on Saturday afternoon requires you to bring a dissecting microscope.

Tickets for Workshops sell out fast so you are encouraged to book online and not leave it to purchase at the Show; spare workshop tickets will be available for sale at the FRONT DESK in the main foyer, not from the Eclipse Pavilion.

Most workshops are scheduled for a maximum of 2 1⁄2 hours duration. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the workshop. e-Tickets are entirely electronic, you can print them out.

Workshop online bookings are now closed.

Spare workshop tickets will be available for sale in person at the FRONT DESK in the main foyer at Sandown Park.

2026 Workshop timetable (Eclipse Pavilion)

Click on the workshop title to see the details and profile of the leader.

Room Thursday 22nd October 14.30 – 17.00 AFTERNOON
G 1-2 Microscopy: Disease Testing and Abdominal Dissection – £25 – Sean Stephenson
G. 3-4 Using Apideas – £10 – Dan Basterfield
G. 5-7 New Super Formulations – £20 – Sara Robb
3.1-3 Raising Varroa Resistant Honeybees form Open Mated Queens – £10 – Steve McGrath and Rhona Toft
3.4-5 Queen Selection for Breeding and Queen Introduction – £10 – David and Emma Buckley
3.6-8 Food Safety for Beekeepers – £10 – Andy Pedley
Friday 23rd October 09.30 – 12.00 MORNING
G 1-2 Microscopy: Preparing Bee Anatomy Slides – £25 – Sean Stephenson
G. 3-4 Making Beeswax Polish – £20 – Paul Vagg
G. 5-7 Honey and Cheese Tasting with a Sommelier – £25 – Robin Parker
3. 1-3 Cleaning and Preparing Beeswax – £20 – Shirley Bond
3. 4-5 Using Apideas – £10 – Dan Basterfield
3. 6-8 Setting Up and Running Bee Classes for Kids – £10 – Debbie Burney
Members Bar Skep Making (all day, 09.30 – 17.00) – £60 – Chris Park
Friday 23rd October 14.30 – 17.00 AFTERNOON
G. 1-2 Microscopy: Preparing Pollen Slides – £25 – Sean Stephenson
G. 3-4 Making Mead to Drink and Show – £10 – Claire O’Brien
G. 5-7 Showing Honey – £10 – Paul Boyle
3. 1-3 Candlemaking – £20 – Joyce Nisbet and Andy Anderson
3. 4-5 Using Apideas – £10 – Dan Basterfield
3. 6-8 Crafting Beeswax Flowers – £20 – Sue and Chris Rawlings
Saturday 24th October 09.00 – 11.30 MORNING
G. 1-2 Introduction to Botany – £35 – Marin Anastasov
G. 3-4 Making Beeswax Polish – £20 – Paul Vagg
G. 5-7 New Super Formulations – £20 – Sara Robb
3. 1-3 Candle Making – £20 – Joyce Nisbet and Andy Anderson
3. 4-5 Swarming and the Artificial Swarm Control Method – £10 – David and Emma Buckley
3. 6-8 Crafting Beeswax Flowers – £20 – Sue and Chris Rawlings
Members Bar Skep Making (all day, 09.00 – 16.00) – £60 – Chris Park
Saturday 24th 13.30 – 15.30 AFTERNOON
G 1-2 Honey Bee Anatomy – £35 – Marin Anastasov
G. 3-4 Making Mead to Drink and Show – £10 – Claire O’Brien
G. 5-7 Cheese and Honey Tasting with a Sommelier – £25 – Robin Parker
3. 1-3 Queen Rearing for the Small Scale Beekeeper – £10 – Anne Rowberry
3. 4-5 Photographing Bees – £10 – Richard Rickitt
3. 6-8 Fun with Boards: Snelgrove, Horsley and Cloake – £10 – Jane Medwell and Alex Wray

WORKSHOPS RECEPTION, LOCATED ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE ECLIPSE PAVILION, WILL ONLY BE OPEN 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF EACH SESSION

Have questions about booking your workshop?

Check our Frequently Asked Questions page.

National Honey Show 2025 Workshop Leaders

New Super Formulations led by Dr Sara Robb

After leaving academic research in 2003, Sara began making honey soaps and beeswax creams. Formulating for nearly 20 years, Sara’s recipes are available in books (Dr Sara’s Honey Potions, Beauty & the Bees, Making and Selling Cosmetics: Honeycomb Cleansing Cream) and numerous journal articles (British Beekeeping Journal, Bee Craft, BBKA News, Bees for Development Journal). She has a keen interest in teaching others to formulate cosmetics and helping small producers by providing Cosmetic Product Safety Reports.

Learn to make honey & beeswax cosmetics with Dr Sara Robb. This year, Sara will introduce three new formulations. Silica Sea Soap is an ocean-inspired bar that leaves your skin feeling silky-smooth. You can make this in your kitchen, without any special equipment. What’s more, Same-Day Soap does not need to cure, and you can use it the same day you make it! After the soapmaking demonstration, groups will whip up some Moisture Mousse: an ultra-lightweight, hydrating treat that melts right into the skin to lock in moisture. The final product you will make is Lump of Coal Cleanser. Made with charcoal, beeswax, and honey, this face product will leave you looking good even if you are on Santa’s “Naughty List”.

Honey Bee Disease Diagnosis, Preparing Anatomy Slides and Preparing Pollen Slides led by Sean Stephenson

Sean is a Master Beekeeper, Chairman of Bucks County BKA and a member of the BBKA Exam Board. He has been responsible for organising the Bucks Microscopy Group for over 5 years; the group has over 40 members and meets at least 10 times a year. Many beekeepers take up microscopy as part of their BBKA exam studies, and whilst this is a good place to start, there is a lot more beyond the BBKA syllabus. Sean is keen to promote interest in microscopy, to help people understand the basics, develop their skills and to introduce an awareness of botany and entomology. The workshops at this year’s National Honey Show will be equally applicable to those who have never touched a microscope before as it is to those who are starting their preparations for the BBKA Microscopy Assessment.

Honey Bee Disease Diagnosis and Dissection The workshop will cover the dissection and examination of a worker bee for the presence of Acarine, the examination of a sample of bees for Nosema and Amoeba, followed by an abdominal dissection of a honey bee. All three elements form part of the practical tasks for the BBKA Microscopy Assessment. Key to the success of a good honey bee dissection is familiarity of the tools and techniques involved, this workshop is a good place to start. All the necessary equipment and tools for carrying out the activities will be provided. The workshop will be limited to 16 attendees, should an attendee have their own equipment, they are more than welcome to bring it along but please arrange to have microscopes PAT tested prior to the workshop.

Microscopy for Beginners - Preparing Anatomy Slides Preparing anatomy slides can be both time consuming and frustrating! Through attendees preparing various slides, this workshop will introduce a sound method for producing such slides and help them to understand how to overcome some of the common issues. All the necessary tools and equipment for preparing slides will be provided. The workshop will be limited to 16 attendees, should an attendee have their own equipment, they are more than welcome to bring it along but please arrange to have microscopes PAT tested prior to the workshop.

Preparing Pollen Slides This workshop is very much hands-on and will cover different methods of collecting pollen and how to prepare slides of them. The workshop will also introduce methods of recognising pollens and plant families through their pollens. Attendees will have access to a variety of microscopes which may help when going on to purchase their own devices. All the necessary tools and equipment for preparing slides will be provided. The workshop will be limited to 16 attendees, should an attendee have their own equipment, they are more than welcome to bring it along, but please arrange to have microscopes PAT tested prior to the workshop.

Candle Making, led by Joyce Nisbet and Andy Anderson

Joyce Nisbet started beekeeping in 1990, and first exhibited at Shrewsbury Show and then at the National Honey Show in the mid-1990s. Joyce is a Master Beekeeper, BBKA Honey Judge, BBKA Trustee and Chair of the BBKA Spring Convention Committee, but is probably best known for her glass mounted displays at recent National Honey Shows. She will be judging candles at the National in 2024.
Andy (Ian) Anderson started keeping bees more than 17 years ago. He is a qualified Scottish Beekeepers Association Honey Judge and has won many trophies at the National Honey Show, Scottish National Honey Show and the Royal Highland Show.
Following early retirement eight years ago, he works as apiary manager for NatWest at their Gogarburn headquarters in Edinburgh. He trains interested staff to prepare for the Basic Beekeeping certificate and gives talks to groups visiting the site.

Joyce and Andy will describe techniques for rendering and filtering wax including safety aspects for candle making. Wick selection will be considered, and each participant should make both a small, moulded candle and a dipped candle to take home.

Queen Rearing for the Small Scale Beekeeper led by Anne Rowberry

Anne is a Master Beekeeper and Past President of the BBKA, has around 20 colonies and maintains an observation hive in a local school. She has delivered training courses at the BBKA Headquarters at Stoneleigh, and planned and introduced new courses for Queen Rearing and Bee Health.
She is an assessor and examiner for all levels of BBKA assessments and exams, writes and marks module exams, organises and tutors on the Advanced and General Husbandry courses at Stoneleigh. She also lectures at National and International events.

This workshop is designed to illustrate the ease with which good queens can be raised. The methods will include the Miller and the Demaree with hands on experience in grafting and setting up small nuclei such as the apidea to ensure very chance of successful mating. The introduction of a new queen to a colony will also be part of the workshop. Regardless of experience good queens can be raised and it is a very rewarding experience.

Cheese and Honey tasting workshop, led by Robin Parker

Robin Parker lives in Norfolk where he runs Cavell Orchards producing apple juice and honey from his own orchard and bees. He has been keeping bees now for 10 years but previously had bees in the early 90’s before Varroa. He is a qualified Cheese Sommelier and Beer Sommelier with experience in tasting cheese, beer and also beer judging nationally. He also runs beer, cheese and honey tasting experiences and will be bringing this knowledge to the Cheese and Honey tasting Workshop.

At this workshop we will have an introduction to tastes and tasting cheese and honey which you may think you already know about but there will be some surprises. We will be tasting 6 different cheeses, all of different styles together with 6 different honeys and then matching the cheeses to honeys. This workshop will give a basis to take the tasting experience to a new level, give an insight into the varieties and taste of cheeses and honeys available to us and discover that there is much more to both cheese and honey.

How to Set Up and Run Bee Classes For Kids led by Debbie Burney

A primary school teacher in Croydon, South London for 10 years, Debbie became founder and chair of Mrs Burney’s Bee Club CIC in 2001. This start-up organisation is a community interest company which teaches children about bees and beekeeping. Through a combination of school workshops, bee experiences and small group beekeeping lessons, Debbie has taught over 1500 children about bees and how to care for them. She is also the training coordinator for her local BKA, Croydon Beekeepers and Designated Safeguarding Lead for Surrey BKA.

This workshop is for anyone who is interested in beekeeping with children, whether that be engaging your own children or grandchildren with your hives, bringing children into your club apiary or starting your own children’s beekeeping club. Debbie will talk about what she has learnt over the last 4 years about beekeeping with children and she will run through the necessary precautions and legalities. There will also be some hands-on ideas for activities to maintain a high level of interest and engagement amongst the children and parents

Showing Honey, led by Paul Boyle

Paul started beekeeping in 2007 with sister Catherine in Ardee Co Louth. He was lucky to be mentored by 2 of the club's stalwarts to whom he is indebted. He started showing honey in 2008, and qualified as a beemaster in 2013. He won 2 first places in The National Honey Show in London in 2013.In 2015 he was offered a place on the Executive Council of The National Honey Show in London, the first Irish person in its illustrious 99 year history, and he is also the trade hall co-ordinator for the Show. He qualified as an Irish honey judge in 2017, having completed his FIBKA honey judge exams. In 2019 and 2023 he was accepted as a Honey Judge at the World Beekeeping Awards and is currently the chairperson of Louth Beekeepers Association in Co.Louth. Paul passed his BBKA judging exam earlier this year.

Swarms and Swarm Control, led by Phil McAnespie

Phil has kept bees for over 35 years and runs approximately 10 colonies near Burn’s Cottage, Alloway, Ayrshire. He is involved in training and education for his local club and is a past president of the Scottish Beekeepers Association.

This workshop will cover reasons for swarming but have greater emphasis on the practical methods of its control/prevention using various artificial swarming methods, use of the Horsley and Snelgrove boards, Nucleus colonies and he associated benefits of simple queen rearing.

Raising Varroa Resistant Honeybees form Open Mated Queens led by Stephen McGrath and Rhona Toft

Rhona has over 20 years of beekeeping experience and is a BBKA Master Beekeeper. Since 2007, Rhona’s colonies have been managed without any Varroacides. Instead, she has developed a population of Varroa Resistant bees and now manages up to 80 colonies with her husband Richard as a small business in Worcestershire.
Steve McGrath is the apiary manager of the Westerham Beekeepers’ bee breeding project, which is raising local, varroa resistant bees for club members with the aim of cutting the number of bees brought into the club area from outside and improving the stock across the area. He manages a total of around 80 colonies of locally-adapted, untreated colonies across his own apiaries and the breeding project apiary, as well as raising new queens and colonies. He is also a BIBBA trustee, with responsibility for the bee improvement groups network as well as varroa resistance information.

It is sometimes claimed that raising varroa resistant queens in an open mating situation is difficult or impossible, but Steve and Rhona both do exactly that in different areas of the UK. In this workshop, they’ll provide an update on varroa resistance in the UK, an explanation of open and closed mating systems, how they select for varroa resistance, their experiences of varroa resistance heritability in an open mating situation, the role and importance of drones, and how to set up an apiary for breeding varroa resistant queen lines with best results.

Photographing Bees led By Richard Rickitt

Richard had a career in movie special effects and now spend most of his time writing, talking, and thinking about bees. He is editor of BeeCraft, the national beekeeping magazine (established in 1919, and the World’s oldest beekeeping journal) and author of Beekeeping for Gardeners (Bloomsbury, 2023). Richard keep around 30 hives of his own bees as well as a few more for some high-profile locations and individuals. He is the beekeeper at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, where he also teaches beekeeping courses. He is an international award-wining author of several books.

Making Mead to Drink and Show, led by Claire O’Brien

Claire O’Brien has been making mead since embarking on the pathway to gain the BBKA Show Judge Certificate. She has enjoyed success at the National Honey Show with Dry Mead, Sweet Mead, Melomel, Cyser and Metheglin. Claire is the current holder of Millennium Mead Coaster.

In this workshop Claire will set out her approach to making mead, preparing exhibits for the show bench and she will share some of her prizewinning meads.

Making Beeswax Polish led by Dr Paul J Vagg

Dr Paul Vagg is well known for his charitable work and is a former LBKA committee member and author. Having begun beekeeping some years ago, and completely falling in love with everything involved, he established Bee Naturals, making natural products from beeswax shoe polish and candles, to soap and shampoo bars. Bee Naturals has currently been awarded two British Small business awards for its community/charitable work, and its natural product range.

This workshop will cover the simple basics, and ingredients required, to make a simple natural, non-chemical beeswax cream. Each participant will leave with their own beeswax crème they made during the workshop. The best part? You can use this simple product on everything from wood and leather to dry skin. In addition, the workshop will cover various beeswax recipes, covering items like making beeswax crayons or soap. A handout with the recipes shown will be provided to all participants.

Queen Selection for Breeding and Queen Introduction and Swarming and the Artificial Swarm Control Method Led by Emma and David Buckley

Buckley’s Bees was born out of absolute passion and an evidence-based belief in the amazing value of the honeybee and the good they do in the world.David’s experience, knowledge and inspiration, coupled with Emma’s drive to raise awareness and create new opportunities, is taking the skill of beekeeping to new places and to younger generations.

Queen Selection for Breeding and Queen Introduction Selecting the right breeder queen is the foundation of a successful breeding programme. This talk explores the key principles of queen selection, focusing on performance traits, local adaptation and the influence of drones on colony genetics. It also covers assessing newly mated queens, evaluating their colonies and monitoring their offspring to determine whether breeding objectives have been achieved. The session then moves on to queen introduction, explaining how to prepare a colony to ensure it is queenless and demonstrating practical introduction methods, including the newspaper method, Apideas, Butler cages, virgin queens, queen cells and techniques for laying worker colonies. Ideal for beekeepers looking to improve stock quality through informed queen selection and successful queen introduction.

Swarming and the Artificial Swarm Control Method Swarming is the honeybee colony’s natural method of reproduction, but for beekeepers it can result in the loss of bees, reduced honey yields and challenges in colony management. Understanding why colonies swarm, recognising the warning signs and knowing when to intervene are essential skills for successful beekeeping. This session explores what triggers colonies to swarm and demonstrates the Artificial Swarm Control Method - a practical and effective technique for preventing the loss of a swarm while allowing the colony to satisfy its natural instincts. Suitable for beekeepers of all experience levels. A session with straightforward, hands-on management advice that can be applied in the apiary. From one practical beekeeper to another.

Crafting Beeswax Flowers, led by Sue and Chris Rawlings

Sue Rawlings comes from West Wiltshire and has been involved with Beekeeping for 46 years, with her husband Chris. She has a City and Guilds qualification in floristry and is a member of the British Sugar Craft Guild. She has been making sugar flowers for many years. Now working with beeswax she has developed her own methods of crafting flowers. She has entered honey shows in the South West recently winning 2 Blue Ribbons and firsts in the National Honey Show 2022 and 2023. Chris Rawlings is supporting Sue by improving the method of wax sheet production in the home. With 46 years’ experience in beekeeping covering many different aspects from training, to demonstrations and workshops to showing honey and honey products.

This is a workshop in Beeswax flowers where I will guide you through the art of making a rose and one other flower. It will cover methods for making your sheets of coloured beeswax and turning them into lifelike examples for display. You will receive a starter pack with templates and wires etc. The course is aimed at beginners, so no previous experience is needed and I hope this will be a starter to encourage new exhibitors to the show bench.

Cleaning Wax led by Shirley Bond

Shirley is a Master Beekeeper and has been a member of the BBKA Exam Board since 2017. Shirley has been showing for most of her beekeeping career and has won classes at many shows including the National Honey Show. She became a BBKA Show Judge in 2024.

Shirley believes that wax is a much-neglected product of the hive and with a little effort can be recovered into saleable blocks, candles and other products such as creams and lip balm. The workshop will cover the basic principles of wax extraction and cleaning including techniques for producing show quality wax blocks.

Introduction to Botany for Beekeepers and Honey Bee Anatomy, led by Marin Anastasov

Marin started beekeeping in his teens and developed his initial beekeeping knowledge and skills while studying towards BSc in Animal Science in Bulgaria, where beekeeping was part of the syllabus. Marin is Trustee of Gloucestershire Beekeepers Association and serves on the BBKA Examinations Board. He is an assessor for the Basic, General Husbandry and Advanced Husbandry certificates and is currently responsible for running the General Husbandry and Advanced Husbandry training programmes for the BBKA.

Introduction to Botany for Beekeepers This will cover all basic botany aspects such as evolution and diversity of major plant groups, plant physiology, different forms of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds, plant reproduction and botanical classification. From a beekeeping perspective the course will cover plants with importance to bees, nectar secretion, pollen production, as well as the nutritional values of nectar and pollen to bees.

Honey Bee Anatomy This workshop will have the opportunity to learn about honeybee anatomy and more specifically practice the techniques for dissecting honey bees, including head, thorax and abdomen. We will focus on the major anatomical features, organs and systems, and link their functions, with colony performance, pests and diseases responses. The workshop is for the intermediate level of beekeepers and particularly useful for those studying towards the BBKA Microscopy certificate, BBKA Module 5 or those who are simply interested in getting more detailed knowledge of honey bee biology and function. Dissecting equipment and consumables will be provided, but the participants need to bring their own dissecting microscopes. Please arrange to have microscopes PAT tested prior to the workshop.

Skep Making, led by Chris Park (All day workshop)

Chris Park is a skep maker and skep beekeeper. He lives on an organic farm in the Vale of the White Horse. His work is wide and varied, from arts and craft, ancient technologies, experimental archaeology and educational projects to eco-building, professional story telling and raising the awareness of heritage beekeeping. You can see some of his work at www.acorneducation.com. He is chairman of the newly formed British Beekeeping Heritage Society and gives entertaining lectures. Chris aims to teach how to make skeps and not just run a production line. Few will finish their skeps on the day but we hope all will go home with the knowledge and materials needed to finish the job.

Food Safety for Beekeepers, led by Andy Pedley

Andy Pedley qualified as an Environmental Health Officer in 1976, and has developed a particular interest in the food safety legislation and food safety in practice, as it applies to Bee Keepers - he’s been keeping bees for more than 30 years. He’s recently authored “Food Safety for Bee Keepers, Advice on legal requirements and practical actions” (Northern Bee Books) and will lead this workshop, which in the past has been greatly appreciated by attendees.

Using Apideas, led by Dan Basterfield, NDB

Dan grew up with beekeeping around him, earning pocket money by clipping and marking queens. Having spent 15 years working in large companies, he returned to the family beekeeping business in Devon in 2005, and with his father expanded the business and built a brand new Honey Farm as the centre of their honey production, queen raising, and teaching activities. Dan holds the National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB), is a BBKA Master Beekeeper and an examiner for the BBKA and NDB examinations. He is a regular lecturer around the UK on practical beekeeping topics. Daniel wrote some of the BBKA’s Course in a Case training courses, and contributed to the BBKA’s Liquid Gold and Swarming videos. He co-authored the BBKA’s Healthy Hive Guide book, and has recently published Using Apideas, an extensive and lavishly-illustrated guide to running these mini mating nucs. He is a member of the Bee Farmers Association, and has been a Trustee and Chairman of the International Bee Research Association (IBRA), and Chairman of the NDB Examination Board.

Despite being available for 40 years and popular across Europe, the Apidea mini queen mating hive comes with no instructions. Beekeepers new to queen raising often find them frustrating and unreliable; even the respected queen raising text books contain little or no information on the management of these hives. Daniel Basterfield has used Apideas with his father since the 1980’s. He recently published the book Using Apideas as a distillation of their experience, describing successful and straightforward techniques for using these mating hives. In this workshop he will discuss how to set up and manage Apideas, using lots of equipment and examples, including the principle of recycling in order to mate multiple successive queens from each established Apidea. This workshop is aimed at the experienced beekeeper who may be new to queen raising and mini mating hives.

Fun with Boards: Bailey; Snelgrove; Horsley and Cloake, led by Jane Medwell and Alex Wray

Jane Medwell learnt beekeeping in the 1970s and they learnt it all over again when she set up her own apiaries in the 19190s. She is a Master Beekeeper, BBKA Assessor, Trainer, and Exam Secretary for Warwickshire. She is also a BBKA Trustee. Alex Wray is a third-generation beekeeper who works full time and so runs his apiary on a seven day rotation. He keeps his colonies in Warwickshire and spends his summers dreaming of a swarm free existence and rearing queens. He has completed his General Husbandry assessment and this has resulted in a very tidy bee shed.

Swarm control is always an important issue for beekeepers and different methods suit different situations. The use of specialist boards like Bailey, Snelgrove, Horsely and Cloake offer a range of options. The aim of this session is for you to evaluate the options which suit your setting. Starting with the whole idea of the “artificial swarm” this session will focus the uses, methods, advantages and special characteristics of using dedicated boards for swarm control and queen replacement. The emphasis will be on what works and why it works, to give participants the chance to evaluate whether these boards suit their beekeeping goals and methods.