Our History

The Dromore Beekeepers association was founded on 1st August 1984 by Mr. Robert ‘Bobby” Jess. Bobby was one of Dromore’s best known residents, being the town’s local postman. He took up beekeeping in 1976, when his wife Doreen was advised to take honey & cider vinegar to control a sinus problem; and it worked. 

Bobby identified all of the beekeepers in his district, and the first meeting of the Dromore and District Beekeepers' Association took place in Preston's Auction Rooms. Bobby saw the DBKA outgrow the Auction Rooms, the Old Post Office Sorting office, the Methodist Hall, the Town-hall and as of today, it’s hosted in the Science Research Centre at Dromore High School.

In 1985 Bobby proposed an Association Apiary but it took 10 years for the membership to catch his vision & the Apiary was officially opened on 7th September 1996. It was on his land that the first association apiary, complete with observatory house, was built, becoming the prototype for all the association apiaries in Northern Ireland.