finding a new home

[alan42]

Having to move my 5 hives from there location to pastures new I went round all the local farms in our area approx 10 farms, wow what a reception I got from not a chance mate I hate those things ( that was from 3 of them ) to I have nothing but trouble from bees ? wouldent elaborate, I asked if I could put them in a corner of a field the farmer replied sorry I only have round fields (unbelievable but true) especially as we were standing at the edge of a squire field, I managed to find one but that is not a farmer just a very nice man with a lot of land that is heavily into nature.

 

[rog]

I travel round farmsas part of my job and just this week been asked three times if I can put hives on their land. Where are you based?

 

[alan42]

I am in a village near middlesbrough I have found a perfect spot for them 7 ponds wild medows a willow plantation shelter and permision to put as many as i want in difrent parts of the land but like I said no thanks to the local farmers.

 

[Midland Beek]

Farmers use insecticide sprays and worry about inadvertently killing your bees and facing a FERA enquiry into spray losses. And they worry about being liable in case of stinging incidents. That's why they don't want them.

 

[alan42]

I dont think for one second that the farmers i spoke to even had one of them reasons in mind. i think it was a case of its my land keep off.

 

[hedgerow pete]

farmers like most people in the world are bone idle it is easier to say no and carry on as normal thatn to yes and to change the world, all you have to do is keep going some one some where will say yes.

also big pet hate of mine is where the devil are you as the uk is a flippin big place

 

[Tom Bick]

Sorry Alan but you asked the farmer can I put bees on your land and have full access to them at a time that is good with me.

The farmer said no, that’s understandable not every farmer wants or needs bees on their land.

You have to thank the farmer for his time and move on it’s a hard pill to swallow but you have to take it.

You have found a site and it sounds perfect for you so that’s good.

Can I ask why have you got to move them from your present location and is that a farm?

 

[kathrynat]

Farmers are bone idle!!! Don't get me started. We work 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No holidays, very rarely a full day off. Work from 5.30 in the morning until it goes dark. When someone puts hives on farmers' land are we as farmers responsible for making sure the beekeeper has proper access, who is responsible for fencing off the hives in case they get knocked by animals or machinery? I can understand why farmers would be cautious

 

[davemacdon]

Farms seem to be the obvious choice - lots of plants, open land for the bees, increased crops for the farmers etc. My search took me to 2 farms, where they both agreed that I could keep bees there. Unfortunately by the time I pulled my finger out, some 2 years later, I would have needed to go and approach them again to see if the permission was still there.
I know that one had a swarm on his land, and the beekeeper who went to get the swarm ended up housing them in his hives on that land. I was aware then that this farm location had been taken.
In the end, I asked a local businessman, having used google maps / earth to locate some open areas. This businessman has a great location, with 24 hr security in place that made it perfect.
My other location is an area of land that I wanted to build a house on, but the current owners wanted to do this themselves and planning authorities wouldn't allow it. The land lies unuse. I phoned the current owner who is in France, and he agreed.
The groundwork, the knockbacks are the hard parts, but the necessary evils of finding a good and suitable spot.
Whenever I am out, I am always eyes open for a good spot. I only have one hive, got that yesterday, am new to beekeeping, but have 2 locations with permission and multiple potentials in mind.

 

[Chris Luck]

I managed to find one but that is not a farmer just a very nice man with a lot of land that is heavily into nature.

That's the one you want, good clean balanced habitat.

and Kathryn, perhaps you should move to France, farmers here don't work 7/7 365 days of the year and they are coining it in...still I guess it depends on what you are farming.

Chris

 

[mbc]

That's the one you want, good clean balanced habitat.

and Kathryn, perhaps you should move to France, farmers here don't work 7/7 365 days of the year and they are coining it in...still I guess it depends on what you are farming.

Chris

Marijuana ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

farmers like most people in the world are bone idle it is easier to say no and carry on as normal

I don't think Pete was actually implying that farmers were idle full stop but 'like most people in the world' when faced with something new and without knowing how much hassle (or not) for little profit it may be it is easier to say no, I'm from farming stock, worked on farms in my younger days and I think it's because they work so hard that something outside the normal sphere of their daily life is not always important enough to merit thinking about.
Chris is right though, move to France, buy a goat to eat the moss off the garage flat roof and hey presto! you're a farmer and all you need is a big bag to carry the subsidies away in!!

 

[Chris Luck]

Chris is right though, move to France, buy a goat to eat the moss off the garage flat roof and hey presto! you're a farmer and all you need is a big bag to carry the subsidies away in!!

Hmmm, it's not quite that easy but there's plenty of loot to be made AND BTW the subsidies are the same as in the UK.

Marijuana ? You know we have spotter planes looking for that in the middle of Maize fields, I kid you not, probably safer to grow it in barns.

Chris

 

[hedgerow pete]

i did not mean ALL farmers are lazy , but yes i strongly belive in the simple fact , "If you cant earn money doing it, why do it"

I like a million other will support british farmers in any way i can, being a country boy my self i know what it involves, BUT

I AM SICK TO DEATH OF LISTENING TO HEART BREAKING SOB STORIES ABOUT POVERTY STRICKEN FARMERS LIVING OF THE PIG SWILL SCRAPS AND WORKING 25/7, YAWN YAWN YAWN,

SELL THE FARM AND GET A JOB
and let someone else do it who will try to make money.

as for land which is what we are realy talking about, other than me ranting on, sorry everyone!

the biggest land owner i know of is not the farmers of blighty but the church is it not?
my old allotments at newbold near shipston on stour was a 6 acre field wholey owned by the church as was a lot of other fields, grave yards, church yards ect. and dont forget the councils own lands aswell, the two farms at sandwell vally are council tennents

there are allotments sites over by me that are not council owned but privately owned and will allow you to keep pigs there if you wanted too!!!

industrial units and work shops have tones of dead corners in there yards with the hive facing tight to the fence they only take up a small spot. you would proberly have 24hr gaurds.

if you are going to adress these firms mention the biggy that every firm has to have an enviromental policy and any thing green and eco is good for press photos etc and i think is there not a government scheme/programe/thingy where every one has to be thinking local and green, my boss was dribbling on about it ages ago at work, but i never listened to him

 

[kathrynat]

I didn't mention anything about living in poverty I was only saying that not ALL of us are lazy. We work so hard because we have cows to milk and take care of. I didn't mention anything about not making any money. We are not rich, but we are comfortable. Why would we want to sell up and move? We live in the best place in the world as far as I am concerned, and living where we do and doing what we love makes us far richer than most people out there.

 

[Chris Luck]

Farmers are bone idle!!! Don't get me started. We work 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No holidays, very rarely a full day off. Work from 5.30 in the morning until it goes dark.

Did sound a bit hard done by to me but that's the written word for you, perhaps it didn't convey, (to me at any rate), your actual meaning, but should you consider moving to France you would find many other British farmers here that have and are reaping the rewards.

Chris