Vanishing numbers.

mbc · Nov 30, 2013

Back in the day most country cottages and every farm and small holding would have had bees. Every village and town would also have had many beekeepers, and lets not forget the large wild/feral honeybee population which existed pre varroa. Admittedly changing land use and agricultural practices have reduced forage significantly but IMHO most of the country is still way below the population density once common and there is some distance to go before we are close to saturation. Hive products just arent as highly valued as they once were and they can also be imported cheaply.

victor meldrew · Nov 30, 2013

mbc said:
Admittedly changing land use and agricultural practices have reduced forage significantly but IMHO most of the country is still way below the population density once common and there is some distance to go before we are close to saturation. Hive products just arent as highly valued as they once were and they can also be imported cheaply.

The population density has certainly increased?.
Not sure what you mean?
In my village the population has trebled but the area encompassed this trebling has more that quadrupled !
In my youth, small terraces of tiny jerry built miners cottages were the norm each occupying large families often including 3 generations .
One family (all boys ,save 1 girl) lived in such a dwelling. We used to ask the youngest (a boy), "Weer dust sleep at neet?"
His answer was " there's a nail on t'bedroom doer un they 'ang me on that"
Suffice it to say , single occupancy , multi car families, concrete and more concrete. Industrial estates built with grant monies but largely unoccupied whilst developers are building willy billy on green field land have ensured that there will be even less in the future. I despair for my great grand children

VM

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FreeFall · Nov 30, 2013

victor meldrew said:
The population density has certainly increased?.
Not sure what you mean?

Bee population perhaps?

Norfolk · Nov 30, 2013

I despair for mine too VM
Thankfully !! they are not interested in a rural idyll.

We have had the age of the hunter gatherer then the age of the settler/farmer. Now we seem to be in the age of the urbanite, whats next ?

victor meldrew · Nov 30, 2013

Norfolk said:
I despair for mine too VM
Thankfully !! they are not interested in a rural idyll.

We have had the age of the hunter gatherer then the age of the settler/farmer. Now we seem to be in the age of the urbanite, whats next ?

Alas I wasn't brought up in a rural idyll but an area of coal mining and dark satanic mills but the mills were masterpieces of architecture and the population lived in cramped conditions with a much smaller footprint than today ,leaving field upon field hedgerow upon hedgerow for us to explore!
School children were given a holiday in October for potato picking !
The threshing machine was an annual event and looked forward to as a means of earning a few coppers . Kids got the filthiest of jobs , right at the back of the machine breathing in lungs full of dust .,
All very heathy outdoor activities

Ah! Well ,I'm still here firing on 3 and a bit cylinders

VM