Allotment Beekeeping

[davemacdon]

A discussion thread.

I was told a couple of years ago that there is a piece of legislation / policy that means that allotment associations have to look favourably on beekeepers wanting to keep bees either on their allotment or on some suitable ground within the allotment field. I have no more details than this.

Can anyone expand on this?

FYI, I did raise the wish to keep bees on the allotment where I have a plot, but their AGM was late in the year, and they did not seem very receptive to the idea at the time. I decided not to force the issue with my local allotment association, whilst I believe my and other plots would benefit, I would rather have them somewhere agreed without external legal pressure, and have therefore sourced two other great locations ready for my first hives.

Dave.

 

[Oakbear]

I helped set up allotments in my village last year, and wanted to keep bees there so looked into it.
The only thing you can have by right on a statutory (public/council) site is hens, no bees i'm afraid. There are no rights at all on private sites.
Many associations will have less prohibitive rules, and will allow various things, but bear in mind that bees constitute livestock for these purposes.

Our private landlord only wanted hens, so no bees for me there!
I have to say i'm really glad, as whilst my ladies are very well behaved so far, things can change, and keeping bees in a relatively public area can invite problems imho.
It also made me get a decent apiary site, which is vastly superior to putting them on my plot.

 

[VEG]

If you have an alternative to an allotment then go with the alternative.

 

[ladyrose1956]

Is your allotment a council run one if so the law of the land says that you are able to to keep hens and other stock including bees but the local council can say no to people keeping hens on the grounds that people do go on holiday so who looks after them, but bees are diffrent they look after them selves but the only trouble can be is your neighbours on the allotment do they mind becuse people can be afraid of bees, on my allotment site there are two other bee keepers pluse my self and we have no trouble people on the site are pleased that the bees are there

 

[davemacdon]

I fully agree with your comments. The initial thoughts on greater productivity for all - a win win situation - soon became a case of people stating that they were alergic to bees, and any other excuse that would stop me from persuing the idea.

And as per your comments, I decided soon after that, that the bees would probably be better sited elsewhere.

As per my initial thread, I have found two excellent spots - one that required me to speak to the landowner in France, but was worth the trouble as it is secluded, easily accessible for me and surrounded by countryside. Only trouble is that I now need to spend money on more equipment than I originally planned!

Some do say that beekeeping is a way of life, more than a hobby!!

Thanks for the replies.

Dave.

 

[misterbean]

Hi, i keep bees on my allotment, i dont know if it makes any difference but it is in the town centre and it is a council run site, i have them fenced and this allows them to fly up and over the fence ,a good 10 feet so they dont come into contact with my neighbours,in fact most people have no idea that they are actually any bees nearby at all.

 

[SteveJ]

Most of my bees are on a waste piece of land on the allotment. I'm always getting other allotment holders coming and talking to me about bees, and they have been very helpful this year with swarm retrieval.

As far as the allotment holders are concerned they get their crops pollinated and a waste piece of ground is kept tidy and weed free.

The other week I got a call from an allotment holder about a swarm on the alotments and I was collecting it in full suit there was an elderly allotment holder right behind me in shirt sleaves watering his bees. He wasn't bothered and neither where the bees.

Steve J

 

[steve1958]

Our local council will not allow Bees on its allotments.
Probably due to someone being stung.
However I do have Bees on an allotment in a neighbouring district. (Different council).

It was interesting how this came about.
Last year at the Allotment Keepers AGM they invited a Beekeeper to come and speak about pollination.
Following his talk they realised the benefits of having Bees on the Allotments
and the Allotment Holders aproached the Local Society requesting Beekeepers place Bees on their sites.

Up until then you had to be an allotment holder to be able to have Bees on a site (plus lots of other rules)
However after the AGM talk, they changed the rules.
So I dont have an Allotment, but I do have a nice piece of ground the size of half an allotment.