Why Beekeeping?

People often ask why and how I got into beekeeping.

It was a spontaneous decision that I don't regret making, even after 10 bee stings.
Up until recently beekeeping was left to doddery odd men eccentric mature gentlemen. Things are changing and there has been an influx of younger bee keepers. Beekeeping is becoming popular and trendy.

With hives in small gardens and rooftops in London, artists and professionals alike are setting up hives.

Glynn Davies, the president of the British Beekeepers Association(BBA) has been quoted saying "There's been a massive revival in urban beekeeping and most are young people who have never kept bees before." More than 350 people have joined the BBA in the past 2 years, at least 20 times more than in the previous 3 years combined.

In certain cliques, honey is becoming something to be appreciated, like a fine wine. Fortnum and Mason have noted the trend and now offer a "Honey Tasting Pack". Have a look at this shop - The Hive Honey Shop London

When I attended the "Bee Keeping Taster Day", I was warned that Beekeeping is addictive. And its true. 1 Hive leads to 2, leads to 4 and before you know it, you're saying yes to another swarm.

Robyn meets some "Girls"

We all need to have some beekeeping training and Robyn has taken a head start by booking herself in on a introductory day for Bee Keeping in Conway last weekend.  The weather was lovely and the bees were active and with 13 attendees, it was a small brood. Robyn has informed us she wasn't the Queen Bee on this occasion as there were five other queens very much more experienced.

The morning was spent in the classroom learning basic facts about bee-keeping and in the afternoon it was a chance to work with the five hives learning how to handle the frames and to find the queen bees etc. Good information and advice was given which will move our plans forward in providing new hives around our local area to start with.

Our target date is July to have our first hive up and running, so between now and then we will be putting in the 'learning' hours required so that we can manage our/your bees in safe manner and still have fun at the same time.   

Comb

Frame from a Nucleas box

Nucleas

Types of Bees