From next year we'll be keeping bees

[Melbourne12]

We've been thinking about keeping bees for a while.

There's a plot on one side of our allotment site that's under a line of mature trees.  Nothing grows there - even brambles have a struggle.

So we wrote to the Borough Council to ask if we could keep a couple of beehives on there.  We promised to look after the hives properly, best practice and all that, and pointed out that what with the decline in bees nationally, it could help with pollination.

The other day they wrote back and said that provided we joined the Beekeepers Association and followed their advice, and limited ourselves to four hives in the first year, we could go ahead.  We've just got the papers to sign, so it's official.

So we're booking ourselves on a beekeeping course next March, and with luck we'll be setting up a couple of hives soon afterwards.

Must resist jokes about getting a buzz by not beehiving ourselves 

If there are any beekeepers on here, any advice will be gratefully received!

[Wascally Weasel]

Where are you based btw? (I like buying local honey)

[Swarm_Catcher]

Excellent news about you keeping bees next year.  The council is being very generous in allowing 4 hives, and that in the first year.   Unless you have lots of spare time, do start with 'a couple of hives'.

Welcome and happy beekeeping, its starts now.

Swarm_Catcher

[jellied]

Keep us posted on this.

I bumped in to a bloke last year who was checking out local allotment plots for places to keep hives. We chatted and I was very impressed. The local group runs courses to show people what to do - which doesn't sound that difficult.

I'm still wary of just plonking down two hives on the plot - and the investment is quite a lot for not a massive return - it's not as though we eat that much honey.

[Melbourne12]

Thanks for the responses.  We're based in Harrow, and the idea for the bees really started with the poor pollination of beans on our allotment when we first got it about 3 years ago.  We started by planting lavender and other plants that were supposed to be attractive to pollinating insects, and it went from there.

We will try not to be too ambitious to start off with, tempting though it is.  We thought two hives for 2009, and see how we go.  In a way, any honey we harvest will be a bonus - although presumably if the apiary expands we will begin to get worthwhile amounts.  Two of the senior tenants on the site are allowed to sell their allotment produce, so I guess we could get them to sell the odd jar of honey.

Here are some pictures of the site as it currently looks.  Which is unprepossessing, to say the least. Apiary 2008 - a set on Flickr

[andygates]

Sweet.

[little miss mac]

(I like buying local honey)

WW, you know you can get Wandsworth honey from the bee shop on Northcote Rd? It's very yummy indeed.

[David Martin]

We wanna hive cam, live ont' interwebby...

..d

[Swarm_Catcher]

We wanna hive cam, live ont' interwebby...

..d

Check out the LiveHive:
http://www.hivetool.com/

[PaulF]

(I like buying local honey)

WW, you know you can get Wandsworth honey from the bee shop on Northcote Rd? It's very yummy indeed.

And the shop at Mordor Hall Garden Centre sometimes has some - if the bees aren't poorly

[Wowbagger]

How do you propose to practise swarm control?

In the most reliable method, when I used to keep them, having 2 hives really meant having 4.

This leaflet is useful and explains why.

[Swarm_Catcher]

How do you propose to practise swarm control?

In the most reliable method, when I used to keep them, having 2 hives really meant having 4.

This leaflet is useful and explains why.

Bees might not read the books but they do read the AUK calendar.  No matter how good your swarm control is - they will go when you are out riding.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

And the shop at Mordor Hall Garden Centre sometimes has some - if the bees aren't poorly

The Orcs and the giant spider must make shopping there quite difficult. 

[Melbourne12]

How do you propose to practise swarm control?

In the most reliable method, when I used to keep them, having 2 hives really meant having 4.

This leaflet is useful and explains why.

That's really helpful - thanks.