Looking to purchase bees in the greater Manchester area for this spring

[Galaxy55]

Can I suggest contacting Manchester and District Beekeeping Association

Hi. We have purchased a farm and we have designated a good portion of land for wild flower and we will be putting hives in the same area. I’m finding it difficult to find good information from local bee keeping associations in the Oldham and Rochdale areas and I’m new to this website so any help is greatly appreciated.

I want to order bees for spring that are fairly local to the area for obvious reasons. can anyone help with any contact details? Farm is located in Shaw, Oldham.

Can I suggest Manchester and District Beekeeping Association.
Here's a link to the training course they are offering.
https://www.mdbka.com/basic-beekeeping-training/

 

[Ron Birrell]

Hi Park Farm Bees,
I am a member of Manchester and District Beekeepers' Association. We have just opened bookings for Novice Training 2022.
The link below will take you to our website and may be of interest.
https://www.mdbka.com/

 

[0bee-1]

If your buying hives try the main companies during sale time, there at least 50% cheaper………You don’t just have bees they need management or care, you need to do a course or at least gain some knowledge!!!

tep Th*rne Winter Sale on til end of January

 

[Wilco]

Hi. Just a small holding with a few acres of grazing land for horses in the countryside. We have segregated about 150m2 of land at the far end of the field away from any horses and public pathways. Nice and sheltered too

So you're aiming to offset the damage the horses will do to the rest of the land using the wildflower meadow?

A proper wildflower meadow may take many years to get going. For the first year have you considered just letting it grow to see what's already there? Don't forget you'll need to cut it too. Wildflowers are weird.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A proper wildflower meadow may take many years to get going. For the first year have you considered just letting it grow to see what's already there? Don't forget you'll need to cut it too. Wildflowers are weird.

That’s exactly what Stan and I did. Then we sowed Rattle. We just top it in the autumn. It has taken a few years for different wildflowers to come through but it’s now full of lots of wild flowers and less vigorous grasses

 

[Plastics]

That’s exactly what Stan and I did. Then we sowed Rattle. We just top it in the autumn. It has taken a few years for different wildflowers to come through but it’s now full of lots of wild flowers and less vigorous grasses

Same here - let the field grow and ended up with masses of suffocating perennial grasses, giant hogweed, thistles and ragwort

Topped it in the Autumn and have sown yellow rattle - let’s see what happens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinanthus_minor
“Yellow rattle is used to create or restore wildflower meadows, where it maintains species diversity by suppressing dominant grasses and the recycling of soil nutrients. The seed is sown thinly onto grassland from August to November—to germinate the following spring, the seeds need to remain in the soil throughout the winter months.”