Become a Member

If you live in Crawley, Horsham, Haywards Heath, or the surrounding area joining CSBKA will gain you admission to all our regular friendly weekly apiary meetings held on a Saturday morning in Pease Pottage which run from April to October.  We welcome both beginners and experienced beekeepers at our training apiary where we offer a safe place to learn and practice all aspects of beekeeping.  Everyone who attends will benefit, especially those who are new to the craft. For the inexperienced help and advice is essential.  You need to be shown how to safely handle bees before you take the plunge and have your first colony – better to find out before rather than after that you don’t really like handling bees at all!  Beware of getting carried away and spending a lot of money until you are sure that you are confident.  A full busy hive at the height of the season can be very daunting.  If, on the other hand, you are already confident with bees and have a history of beekeeping there is ample opportunity to improve your knowledge and share skills in the company of experienced beekeepers.  After all, you never stop learning about beekeeping!

The apiary sessions start at 10:00 prompt with a presentation on a different themed topic each week details of which can be found here

This is followed by Q&A and refreshments after which colony inspections and where appropriate, practical exploration of the week’s topic take place. Please bring your own clean bee suit with you.

During the winter, we meet once a month from October to March on a Wednesday evening at the Millennium Hall in Roffey, Horsham for a series of informal lectures and talks. Details of this year’s meetings can be found here in our Winter Programme.

Membership costs explained

Current Annual Membership Levels are:

FULL MEMBER:             £32.00 (includes BDI insurance for 3 colonies)

PARTNER MEMBER:       £16.00 (adult resident with full member)

AMBROSIAN MEMBER: £11.00 (non-beekeeper or a member of another association)

All members are entitled to attend all apiary and winter meetings and will receive our monthly online newsletter The Buzz. 

Full members may vote at the AGM, are covered by Bee Disease Insurance (BDI)* and £10,000,000 Public and Products Liability Insurance from the BBKA and will receive the BBKA Newsletter.  

Partner members may vote at the AGM and are also covered by £10,000,000 Public and Products Insurance from the BBKA.

*BEE DISEASE INSURANCE (BDI):  Covers loss of hive contents destroyed under the Foul Brood Diseases order (basic is up to 3 colonies). Please make sure you insure for sufficient colonies (including nucs).  If you have more colonies than you are insured for any claim will be invalid.

So, if you are thinking of keeping your own bees at some time in the future or maybe you are a beekeeper already and want to join a local association – you are in the right place.  The CSBKA will be delighted to welcome you as a member – to join please complete our contact form below: