Feel the buzz: a look into the world of beekeeping

Beekeeping is growing in popularity, but it requires specialist skills and equipment, says Camilla Swift in this article from the Summer issue of My Countryside magazine.

Image credit: Simon Finlay

Insects – and bees in particular – are one of the vital cogs which keep our planet moving. That might sound dramatic; but it's true. These pollinators are what make the world go round, and without them, most plant life and indeed other animal life would suffer.

Is that a reason to want to keep bees? Anne Rowberry, Chair of the British Beekeepers Association, suggests that if you simply want to help bees thrive, there may be other things you can do which will be more helpful. "If you want to help bees, it may be better to think about planting forage, and learn about the plants that can help to provide the food they need," she suggests. Beekeeping requires a fair amount of dedication, and it's something you don't want to get into without knowing what you're doing. "If you want to be a beekeeper, consider the time commitment," says Anne. "Especially between March and September, it's important to inspect the bees once a week."

Beekeeping can also be expensive; as well as the cost of purchasing your bees, a hive, and your own equipment, food also has to be supplied to the bees for the winter if you remove their honey. This is one of many areas where the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) may come in handy. "If you join an association, other members may be able to help with second-hand hives, or put you in touch with others who may be selling excess equipment or bees," explains Anne. Choosing a hive is a personal decision, but it's something worth taking your time over – for starters, you want to make sure that you are able to lift the heavy boxes.

Keep it local

When it comes to the bees themselves, having that local link is again hugely helpful. Local bees are already adapted to the area, including the food sources available and the regional climate – and again, your local BBKA association should be able to help you.

There are more than 270 BBKA area associations and branches around the UK (you can find your local one by visiting their website, www.bbka.org.uk), and the majority offer both beekeeping experiences and training days, which will help you to decide whether or not beekeeping is for you. Wherever you choose to learn, it is vital that you do spend time with bees before you buy some. Firstly, it's important to be stung by a bee, to make sure you aren't allergic to bee venom. And secondly, taking a beginner's course in beekeeping will ensure that you know how to keep your bees, so they are not a problem to you and your neighbours and you are not a problem to the bees! It will really help you understand the commitment involved in taking on a hive of your own.

Jo Ramsay is new to beekeeping and started out by doing a beginners course organised by her local BBKA branch. "For me, starting beekeeping was all about learning something new which incorporated my enjoyment of my garden and love of nature, but also would bring a new challenge to me," she explains. "I knew that getting bees wouldn't be as simple as getting a cat, but I hadn't realised just how amazing the workings of a bee colony were, and just how involved and aware you need to be as a beekeeper." For her, the help she received from the BBKA was invaluable. "Being part of our local beekeeping community has meant I've met some amazing people with a wealth of knowledge, and I've had some exciting experiences and fun times, learning so much along the way." She does have one word of warning! "One thing I've learnt is that if you ask three beekeepers a question, you'll usually get four answers, and each one will start with, 'it depends…'!"

Location, location, location

One other thing to bear in mind is that wherever you keep your hive, both you and your neighbours will have to be happy being surrounded by several thousand buzzing insects. That might sound obvious, but you do need to make sure you have a suitable site where they won't annoy neighbours or cause a problem to people or children. As the BBKA put it, "watching a few bees visiting flowers is one thing, but being surrounded by thousands of bees as you inspect a hive is quite another." Most people won't have ever had that experience before, which is another reason why taking a taster or beginners course can be so helpful to potential beekeepers.

Anne recommends starting small with bees; "get a nucleus, and as they grow and expand into a full hive, you will learn and develop in confidence. Handling 40,000 bees safely needs both knowledge and experience!"

As well as courses, there are lots of good beekeeping books out there, which can help to understand how to keep bees healthy, and make sure they are progressing as they should. One word of warning is to be careful on YouTube; although there are lots of seemingly helpful videos out there, a lot of them are catering to an American audience, and their advice may not be relevant to people keeping bees in the UK.

If, having done your research, you decide that beekeeping is for you, there are plenty of ways you can develop your skills beyond the beginner level, such as taking a qualification in microscopy – perfect for beekeepers with an interest in pollen, anatomy, and disease relevant to the honey bee – or identifying what pollen the bees are collecting, learning how to extract honey and then prepare it or make mead from it, or making candles and creams from beeswax. If, on the other hand, you decide that beekeeping isn't for you, there are still things you can do to encourage bees; as well as planting fruit trees or wildflowers, you could encourage solitary bees by building or buying a bee hotel, where bees can nest. Or, if you have a square metre of poor soil available this is perfect for planting wildflowers, which will attract many different pollinators including bees.

Getting a taste for it

The Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association are lucky enough to have some very special facilities available to them; a teaching and education apiary at Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Garden Harlow Carr. The Association has three teaching apiaries, but the new one at Harlow Carr – which was officially opened on World Bee Day this year (Friday 20 May) – is now their main teaching base.

For the last 30 or so years, the Association has had a teaching apiary just outside the gardens, but the bees never really thrived, explains Sarah Haynes, pictured above, HRBKA Education Officer and Apiary Manager. "We run our practical course over the summer for the Association, and for RHS we do a live bee demonstration every week from May to the end of August," explains Sarah. "We also do taster days which the RHS run. People can come along and spend a morning listening to me talk about bees and the theoretical side of it. Then in the afternoon we suit them up and they get the opportunity to handle bees if they want. This is where people find out that it's going to be something that they are enthralled by or not."

As well as building the apiary, the RHS has allowed the meadow surrounding the bees to wild more. "They've purposely worked towards making the area more bee friendly, so all the pollinators are benefiting, not just our bees," explains Sarah.

Taster days are the one thing she would recommend to any potential beekeeper – followed by a beginners course, if they enjoy their first day. "The one thing that blows people away is how peaceful and gentle bees can be," says Sarah. "I try to emphasise to my students that you work with the bees; so you are calm and give them time to move out of the way."

The strain of bees chosen for Harlow Carr is Buckfast Bees, originally bred by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey and sourced locally. "These are very gentle bees and they don't swarm a lot," she explains, which is important in a public garden such as this one. "Your strain of bees and how you handle them can make a big difference to your beekeeping."

The surroundings at Harlow Carr are something that the Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association are fortunate to have, something that Sarah never forgets.

"The apiary that RHS have built here is fantastic; it's an absolute pleasure to be here. When I'm walking through the gardens early in the morning or late in the evening when everybody has gone home and it smells divine, I do stop and think that it's such a privilege to be able to do this fantastic hobby in a place like this. This is my little slice of heaven.

GETTING STARTED

What equipment will I need? Minimum equipment needed for keeping bees:

• A suitable hive
• Protective clothing – a beekeeper suit and disposable 'Marigold' type gloves that cover the wrists.
• A smoker and fuel
• A hive tool
• Feeder
• Bees

Find out more at bbka.org.uk.