Hi all

[beau_vallon]

Just wanted to say hi.

I've no experience of beekeeping so my contributions may be limited for some time, I've joined mainly for research and possibly advice.

I help run a scout group in London and we have our own very substantial and award winning allotment which we are considering introducing a bee colony to this year.

Our purpose would be educational, enriching the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts experience of what is fast becoming a significant focal point of the group.

In these lean times, like most, our budget is non existent so we're potentially looking to start with some kind of self build hive and if we can support a successful colony and educate and enthuse some youngsters it will have been a good experience.

So, thanks in advance, I'm sure there's a huge knowledge base here and I look forward to many hours of reading.

 

[Brosville]

Hello and welcome - Looks like another candidate for "Kenyan" top bar or Warré hives! - there are free plans available to download - you can even use "recycled" timber......... Beekeeping need not be expensive, and can be accomplished on a "pocket money" budget if you're prepared to build it yourself, and use some ingenuity.
Excellent project - best of luck!

 

[MuswellMetro]

Just wanted to say hi.

I've no experience of beekeeping so my contributions may be limited for some time, I've joined mainly for research and possibly advice.

I help run a scout group in London and we have our own very substantial and award winning allotment which we are considering introducing a bee colony to this year.

Our purpose would be educational, enriching the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts experience of what is fast becoming a significant focal point of the group.

In these lean times, like most, our budget is non existent so we're potentially looking to start with some kind of self build hive and if we can support a successful colony and educate and enthuse some youngsters it will have been a good experience.

So, thanks in advance, I'm sure there's a huge knowledge base here and I look forward to many hours of reading.

your first port of call, should be your local beekeeper association

i am sure most london BKA could do a taster day for small groups, we currently support one of the local scout group fetes with our observation hive

and welcome to the forum

 

[beau_vallon]

Hello and welcome - Looks like another candidate for "Kenyan" top bar or Warré hives! - there are free plans available to download - you can even use "recycled" timber......... Beekeeping need not be expensive, and can be accomplished on a "pocket money" budget if you're prepared to build it yourself, and use some ingenuity.
Excellent project - best of luck!

Thanks, will look them up.

your first port of call, should be your local beekeeper association

i am sure most london BKA could do a taster day for small groups, we currently support one of the local scout group fetes with our observation hive

and welcome to the forum

A taster day is a great idea. We're not far from the LBKA, in South London and I've had a brief look at their website. Think I'll be dropping them a line soon, it would be great to have someone come down and talk to one or two of the packs.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Thanks, will look them up.



A taster day is a great idea. We're not far from the LBKA, in South London and I've had a brief look at their website. Think I'll be dropping them a line soon, it would be great to have someone come down and talk to one or two of the packs.

Boris's greater london authority did a Bee day in december, they are going to support 50 community hives, might be worth contacting their press office,see if your group could get funding

 

[Midland Beek]

Taking on bees yourself might be a whole load of work ... there's quite a bit to keeping bees, and one colony doesn't really work. I would suggest you contact the local beekeeping association and discuss with them the possibility of having a 'teaching colony' kept on the site - owned and managed by the beekeeping association but for the benefit of the scouts.

 

[winmag270]

Taking on bees yourself might be a whole load of work ... there's quite a bit to keeping bees, and one colony doesn't really work. I would suggest you contact the local beekeeping association and discuss with them the possibility of having a 'teaching colony' kept on the site - owned and managed by the beekeeping association but for the benefit of the scouts.

having been / being, both a scout leader and a beekeeper, I can state with confidence that there are not enough hours in the day to be able to do both easily or with success at the same time...

 

[Polyanwood]

Welcome beau_vallon.

Why don't you come to meet the London Beekeepers if you are near enough. We meet quite near the Elephant. We have training and support available and there are lectures too. We may be able to provide you with a mentor too. Google London Beekeepers Association. If we are not near enough, there are other associations that cover London that are really good too.

I would not recommend top bar hives for London, except for the Dartington, which does have removable frames. We already have a very high density of beehives and in London due to the high human population density, a lot of swarms end up frightening the public, damaging the image of beekeeping and making it more difficult for people to find and keep sites to keep bees in the capital.

The other issue is that there have been significant outbreaks of a brood disease called EFB in London each year, and this disease spreads through bees in the locality killing colonies unless identified and dealt with early. For this reason it is particularly necessary in London to have hives with removable frames where you can remove the combs to check them for this an other diseases. It is against the Bee Act to keep bees in hives without removable frames too.

I think it is a fantastic idea getting Scouts involved in beekeeping.

 

[roche]

Welcome beau_vallon.

It is against the Bee Act to keep bees in hives without removable frames too.

Which Bee Act, and which part?

 

[Brosville]

Sounds like the usual "scare" tactics to me - "Kenyan" top bar hives can just as easily be run to minimise swarming, and the bars can easily be removed for intrusive inspections if deemed necessary. Fairly typical of the ignorant nonsense spouted by the "anti natural beekeeping" brigade

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Fairly typical of the ignorant nonsense spouted by the "anti natural beekeeping" brigade

Fairly typical of the over the top rhetoric spouted by some.

Do you think there are many anti natural beekeepers in here?

 

[Brosville]

I prefer "more natural beekeeping" - it suits my way of doing thing things - I cheerfully accept that probably most of the beekeepers using this forum use "conventional" methods - that is their free choice, as is mine.
I tend to see red when people tell fibs to newbies about "my" way of beekeeping, and don't pull my punches when I spot deliberate attempts to put people off "other ways" of beekeeping through spreading utter untrue nonsense.
When I started beekeeping I was told all sorts of rubbish, and swore I'd do my utmost to make sure that "the next generation" weren't subjected to the same lies!

 

[RoofTops]

I suspect the problem is with Warre hives where routine inspections and checks for swarming preparations are difficult without a crow bar.

I know someone very well who is successfully using Warre hives but he doesn't live in a city - where I feel they are inappropriate. But nothing wrong with TBHs in towns providing they are managed and the bees not left to behave too naturally - i.e. swarm, which of course applies to any design of hive.

 

[Brosville]

I agree that a Warre probably wouldn't be my first choice in a built-up area either, but a Kenyan top bar hive allows everything that an earlier post very wrongly suggested was impossible - for anyone with the slightest doubts as to the "removability" of top bars, here's a short clip that shows top bars being transferred to a larger hive - they look pretty removable (and inspectable) to me.........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dczts