Wiltshire Honey Show’s first visit to Marlborough was a great success with St John’s School being a veritable hive of activity.

Or as one of the organisers, Fiona Robinson from Calne, put it, “the whole place was buzzing” – and she did not mean just the live bees that were on show in a glass-fronted hive but the sheer numbers of visitors.

Mrs Robinson, who keeps 40 hives, said: “It was one of the best events Wiltshire Beekeepers has had in years.”

The annual honey show moves around the county to a different venue every year and is organised in turn by each of the five beekeeping clubs in the county, these being Melksham, Westbury, Salisbury, Swindon and Kennet.

The Kennet Beekeepers’ Association organised Saturday’s honey day, which was open to the public for the afternoon Displays included a glass-fronted hive showing the bees inside at work, honey-tasting, a demonstration of honey extraction and an opportunity for those interested in taking up beekeeping as a hobby to talk to the experts.

Mrs Robinson said: “We were busy all day answering questions and showing people the live bees in the observation hive.

“We also had a lot of people who will not go near a hive but who were still fascinated by the displays.”

More can be discovered about beekeeping by logging on to the Wiltshire Beekeepers website, www.

wiltshirebeekeepers.org.uk