Topic: Bee Keeping

[Rob08]

Just curious,

Is it practical to keep bees on an allotment or is it just an easy way to make enemies of the other allotment holders?

[OllieC]

I'd be delighted to see my neighbours keeping bees, but someone on our site tried it a few years ago & apparently people kept getting stung (sounds a bit strange to me, having grown up with a few hives in the garden & only ever being stung when moving the hives with my dad!). You need to sound out the neighbours first... it's only a sodding bee sting, after all.  I got over 20 once (when moving a hive!) & was okay after a couple of days.

[Rob08]

I'd be delighted to see my neighbours keeping bees, but someone on our site tried it a few years ago & apparently people kept getting stung (sounds a bit strange to me, having grown up with a few hives in the garden & only ever being stung when moving the hives with my dad!). You need to sound out the neighbours first... it's only a sodding bee sting, after all.  I got over 20 once (when moving a hive!) & was okay after a couple of days.

Good advice and thanks.  Once I am on site I will make enquiries.  I do know that you need to place some barriers around the hives to ensure that the flight paths of the bees is high enough to not cross with your average human activities.

Would love to keep bees though so will pursue this when on site.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've had bees on my plot ever since I took it on at the end of 1998. Mine is ideal as it has hedges which push the bees up above head level. The main things are to keep good-tempered bees, which is good for you as well as the neighbours, join the local Beekeepers' Association, and keep swarming under control; swarming bees won't sting anyone, but they will terrify your neighbours. If you're in Dublin, a good place to start is the FIBKA site at http://www.irishbeekeeping.ie/ . Join the irish list (which is quite international) at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/irishbeekeeping/ . Get one or both the books FIBKA reccommend on the beginners' page (I have both and they're excellent), and try to get native bees, which swarm less than the imports among other advantages.

Ollie - you had a bad experience. There must be hundreds of people keeping bees on allotments up and down the country, and 99.9% of the time there's no problem. You will get the occasional bad beekeeper though, and they get us all a bad name.

[OllieC]

Hi Robert - it was a bad experience but it didn't put me off - we were moving their home! I'd get a bit upset if someone did that to me. It was the angriest of all the hives & they managed to get inside the veil. I still helped my dad with them after that, and to be honest I've had more memorable experiences falling in nettles.

We kept them mostly beside the soft fruit - I used to pick gooseberries & currants a few feet away from them & never got stung whilst doing that.

I love the idea of bee keeping, but none of us really like honey!

[Rob08]

I've had bees on my plot ever since I took it on at the end of 1998. Mine is ideal as it has hedges which push the bees up above head level. The main things are to keep good-tempered bees, which is good for you as well as the neighbours, join the local Beekeepers' Association, and keep swarming under control; swarming bees won't sting anyone, but they will terrify your neighbours. If you're in Dublin, a good place to start is the FIBKA site at http://www.irishbeekeeping.ie/ . Join the irish list (which is quite international) at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/irishbeekeeping/ . Get one or both the books FIBKA reccommend on the beginners' page (I have both and they're excellent), and try to get native bees, which swarm less than the imports among other advantages.

Ollie - you had a bad experience. There must be hundreds of people keeping bees on allotments up and down the country, and 99.9% of the time there's no problem. You will get the occasional bad beekeeper though, and they get us all a bad name.

Thanks for the suggestions.  Could not find the recommended books, would you mind sharing the titles here?

[Plot69]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Could not find the recommended books, would you mind sharing the titles here?

You might like to look here especially if you just want bees for pollination rather than high yield honey production. Top Bar hives are so simple and easy to keep and you can make one in a couple of hours for less that a few quid rather than the 100d's you'd need for even second hand WBC, Langstroth or other traditional type hive.

I bought the PDF file The Barefoot Bee Keeper from there and am seriously thinking of building one for the spring to put behind my lottie shed..

http://www.biobees.com/

[Robert_Brenchley]

You'll find them in the fifth paragraph here: http://www.irishbeekeeping.ie/html/become.html .

[lasder99]

It's best to talk to your neighbours and enlist their agreement/enthusiasm
I started beekeeping last year, joining a local club, taking the beginners class and starting out with a small colony at home.
I didn't consider the lottie because we are over-regulated ( no sheds or greenhouses, no bonfires, no hoses, no powertools before 9am or after 5pm, no dogs, no tree over 8ft......etc ) but when my fellow growers found out they were all very keen for my pollination services, lending their support when I approached the council for permission.
One who is a GP's nurse researched death rates due to allergic reactions and found there is a far higher incidence of peanut and penicillin deaths than from bee/wasp stings.
Anyway, long story short, in the odd shaped corner that has been left overgrown for wildlife, there is a suitable natural Apiary site which I am currently clearing ready for a couple of hives. Without my neighbours, it would not have happened.

[alan42]

i kept  my smith hive on my plot for two years before my neighbour actually noticed it and then he only said whats that box for, believe it or not i have had my lottie for 3 years now and i have never even seen the neighbour on the other side but his lottie is always dug over he never plants anything just digs it ( each to there own ) i just kept my mouth shut and nobody was any the wiser. it is shielded its in my chicken run so fenced of and 6 foot fence all round with honeysuckle and bramble growing on it perfect at the moment but chickens going this week as i can't get over everyday to feed them.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If anyone wants bee boxes, now's the time to go for them with Thorne's sale starting tomorrow. They're seconds (with knots, but the bees won't care), and you have to knock them together yourself. It's pretty simple, with all the nails supplied. Click on the link, which won't be active till tomorrow morning.


http://www.thorne.co.uk/