Gardeners world

[jonnybeegood]

Monty has a top bar hive now? it'll be interesting to watch this develop over the next few months, shame there was no mention of feeding the swarm or possibly treating, just walk them in & away you go. The Beekeeper they had on missed a good chance of education rather than just contact a beekeeping group. I hope they follow these bees each year rather than just forget about them next year, it could be interesting particularly to us without top bar hives.

 

[Russel]

Unfortunatley most of the good stuff is on the "cutting room floor" due to relevance and time constraits of the program.
I would like to see what happens down the line with Monty's, Marther's and Carol's bees.

Gareth is a commercial beekeeper and knows is stuff, giving a lot of help & advice to several BKA's. Tv production teams use him quite abit, there are several BBC programs he appears in.
Another thread on this

 

[For want of a better word]

Monty has a top bar hive now? it'll be interesting to watch this develop over the next few months, shame there was no mention of feeding the swarm or possibly treating, just walk them in & away you go. The Beekeeper they had on missed a good chance of education rather than just contact a beekeeping group. I hope they follow these bees each year rather than just forget about them next year, it could be interesting particularly to us without top bar hives.

If you do not have a TBH and have space and the wherewithall to make and set one up .... do it!

It will test your skills as a beekeeper to the limit... particularly if you refrain from wearing gloves

Where ever on Earth you live!


Yeghes da

 

[alanf]

...shame there was no mention of feeding the swarm or possibly treating, just walk them in & away you go. The Beekeeper they had on missed a good chance of education rather than just contact a beekeeping group...

Given the TV constraints of time and editing for a general audience of millions, they probably got as much in with the "contact your local association" as possible.

 

[MartinL]

Well, It is a gardening prog!

Think Carol had had her top bar for 3 or more years now without mention!

 

[madasafish]

If you do not have a TBH and have space and the wherewithall to make and set one up .... do it!

It will test your skills as a beekeeper to the limit... particularly if you refrain from wearing gloves

Where ever on Earth you live!


Yeghes da

Topbar beekeeping is easy. I read about it in a book...

 

[Erichalfbee]

I hope they follow these bees each year rather than just forget about them next year

What happened to carol's bees?

Think Carol had had her top bar for 3 or more years now without mention!

?
You'd think that if Carol's Top Bar was a success it might be on't tele ?

 

[MartinL]

. . . . . . . . .
What happened to carol's bees?
. . . . . .
?
You'd think that if Carol's Top Bar was a success it might be on't tele ?

Probably tried to propagate them?

 

[einsteinagogo]

Monty has a top bar hive now? it'll be interesting to watch this develop over the next few months, shame there was no mention of feeding the swarm or possibly treating, just walk them in & away you go. The Beekeeper they had on missed a good chance of education rather than just contact a beekeeping group. I hope they follow these bees each year rather than just forget about them next year, it could be interesting particularly to us without top bar hives.

it will be interesting if we see regular updates, but it might be like the pond!

 

[For want of a better word]

it will be interesting if we see regular updates, but it might be like the pond!

The one with Greater Crested Newts they were forbidden to touch?


Yeghes da

 

[MuswellMetro]

Reply from BBC

Reference CAS-3311545-06J5BQ

Thank you for contacting us about ‘Gardeners’ World’ as broadcast on 15th May 2015.

We apologise for the delay in replying. We realise that our correspondents appreciate a quick response and we’re sorry that you had to wait on this occasion. I understand you’re contacting us as you have a number of concerns with the discussion on honey bees.

I appreciate your frustration with this and as such I’ve contacted the Gardeners’ World production team who responded as follows:

“The approach suggested by Monty Don in the programme was based on a “bee-centred” approach to bee keeping, as advocated by the Natural Bee Keeping Trust http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/Bee-centred-vs-conventional-beekeeping.

They take the view that bees should be left to their own devices. Some members of the British Bee Keepers Association, which takes a more conventional approach to bee husbandry, also accept that this natural (and very ancient) approach can be beneficial if the intention is just to encourage pollinators rather than to produce honey.

With reference to hidden hives, Gardeners’ World certainly would not advocate that. The advice on our website comes from the National Bee Unit, which suggests that people register their hives so that they can be kept up to date with developments and alerted to outbreaks of bee diseases in their vicinity.

There is an article in this month’s BBKA News, which suggests that incidences of Varroa are reduced in hives that are left untreated. I am sure that the complainant can appreciate that we do not have time within the programme to cover all of these issues in detail, which is why we put up a web link – to direct people to the Gardeners’ World website for more information.

With reference to being called to manage swarms, we have been advised that BBKA members are happy to provide this service. The Association website advertises a “swarm line”, where people who are worried about a swarm can get help from someone who knows what they’re dealing with.”

I hope this has addressed your concerns and rest assured your feedback is very important to us. As such I have placed your concerns on an overnight report which is a document that is made available to senior staff, programme editors and news teams across the BBC. This means your comments can be seen quickly and can be consulted in future broadcasting and policy decisions.

Thanks again for getting in touch.

Kind regards

Sean Lonergan

 

[BrianO]

Well written response !