Allotment - No Bees Allowed

[Ian123]

Bees on allotments are not worth the bother and to be honest it’s most likely to be new beekeepers with out the knowledge to deal with any issues/problems. To be fair it’s no wonder some associations are against it.

 

[Finsbury]

Been on an allotment for 3 seasons. Its more Peacekeeping than beekeeping at our plots.

You certainly try and act quickly with trouble queens. 3 strike rule.


Ps. Its a great shame to read that councils probably refuse because of previously bad beekeepers. If your allotment is a good location for bees and you are dedicated and have another apiary to remove hives should requeening/other methods not work out then you should be able to carry on just fine.

 

[steve1958]

I had bees on an allotment for several years.
I would say allotment beekeeping is an art.
You definitely have to stay on top of things to control swarming.
The allotment keepers were convinced their crops were increased due to the bees.

We were fortunate that Portsmouth council encouraged our beekeeping association to provide a beekeeper for each allotment site.
I was able to site my hives in a secure area provided to me at no charge.

 

[madasafish]

I help manage three hives on a local allotment. It is not council owned and the allotment holders own the hives. They each got a jar of honey this year... Which helps keep them onside...

 

[SWEET]

Rule of thumb is never to site bees anywhere in sight of a house....

I've had several hives 10ft from the house for years, zero issues. There are plenty of public gardens with hives on display where people stand feet away.

 

[Ian123]

Best rule of thumb is out of site!!plenty of beeks keep bees in urban areas without issue but the fact most problems don’t arise until hives are spotted. I had bees in a back garden with small field next to a school no issues for a couple of years. A couple of freshly paint wbc hives got placed into the field to dry and bingo complaint from school in 48hrs. Had to have a meeting with the school over the fence so went and dismantled the empty hives after them complaining for 20 min.....never heard a whisper after. Had 20 hives tucked around the corner!!

 

[drex]

Laugh. Very true Ian. However I back onto a primary school and for this reason would never consider keeping bees at home. I extract in my honey house in my garden, and due to its small size stack the supers outside. Even with them well covered I still get masses of bees attracted to them and that worries me

 

[Swarm]

That's a bit like my shed a couple of months ago. I had a sack of washed cappings in there and left the door open, had hundreds of bees returning for nearly a week even though I'd removed the sack

 

[madasafish]

Best rule of thumb is out of site!!plenty of beeks keep bees in urban areas without issue but the fact most problems don’t arise until hives are spotted. I had bees in a back garden with small field next to a school no issues for a couple of years. A couple of freshly paint wbc hives got placed into the field to dry and bingo complaint from school in 48hrs. Had to have a meeting with the school over the fence so went and dismantled the empty hives after them complaining for 20 min.....never heard a whisper after. Had 20 hives tucked around the corner!!

The local middle school (7-12 year olds) is within 100 meters of our house. Hives are not visible to them due to ornamental cherry trees.

No complaints in 10 seasons...

 

[Newbeeneil]

I must have 20 houses within 100 m of the hives at the bottom of my garden in the middle of a housing estate. Only my immediate neighbours know I have hives as I discussed it with them prior to installing but they are not visible.
Maybe I'm lucky but I have had no comments/complaints in the last 4 years of beekeeping.

 

[Poly Hive]

I attended a course at Marburg Institute and their grounds marched iwth the primary school. There was a low wall between them some three feet or so high.

All the way down the wall were mini nucs. Dozens of them. It's not the location that's the issue it's the bees temperament.

PH

 

[Finsbury]

Location can make a serious difference to bees temperament. If the apiary is an exposed site, little forage etc.