The London Beekeepers Association represents the interests of beekeepers and urban beekeeping in the central London area (the Home Counties Beekeeping Associations have branches in the outer London Boroughs). We seek to promote forage and seek to stand for responsible bee keeping through training, education and effective management of the many diseases that threaten our bees. The LBKA is the association for those in London who already keep bees or who intend to do so, for beginners who want to start beekeeping and need instruction, and for anyone who wishes to be associated with beekeeping in the London area, including members of other neighbouring Associations. You don’t have to be a bee keeper to join us, though.

The LBKA's main base is in Kennington at Roots and Shoots, where we keep a number of educational hives in the Wildlife Garden and where we hold our courses, practical beekeeping sessions, lectures and regular monthly meetings, and keep the LBKA library and certain equipment (e.g. honey extractor) which is available to members. This is all courtesy of Roots and Shoots and the Wildlife Garden Manager.

Urban bees have a wide range of forage, as the gardens and green spaces in cities contain a rich variety of trees and flowers. This, and the slightly milder weather, means that the beekeeping season is longer and usually more productive than in rural areas so our beekeepers need to be particularly skilled.

This does mean that urban beekeepers have a bit more work to do, but it is correspondingly more rewarding. In 2003, honey from the Greater London area won first prize in the open international category at the National Honey Show - so officially it's the best in the world.