Where to find land for bees

[Maltey]

As I've been reading I notice a few people keep their hives on land away from their home. how do you go about finding this land?
I looked into renting an allotment but keeping bees on it didn't really fit in with their rules so I think that will be a no-go. Where else could I look?

 

[REDWOOD]

You can check on google earth for farm land around your area and then go knocking doors, offer rent of a few jars of honey and if they agree then an apiary site meeting would be good, offer fencing your apiary if there are cattle/ live stock close by.

 

[Pendragon]

Hi,
I think it is advertising locally - shop windows etc - particularly now due to all the publicity on how the bees are struggling there are sympathetic.
I found a landed person on pre****ed who was advertising land to rent. Then I approached the parish council to see about allotment rules ( they agreed to allow me bees on a plot- but by this time I had found the farmer) My parish council had two farmers on it who offered me space on their land! So I ended up with 4 possibilities just by being asking around.
Your local association can sometimes help by connecting land owners who are offering to people who need space.
There is 'plan bee' which tries to link people up.
http://www.co-operative.coop/planbee/hivetalking

good luck with your search.
PD

 

[Russel]

Hi,
I think it is advertising locally - shop windows etc - particularly now due to all the publicity on how the bees are struggling there are sympathetic.
I found a landed person on pre****ed who was advertising land to rent. Then I approached the parish council to see about allotment rules ( they agreed to allow me bees on a plot- but by this time I had found the farmer) My parish council had two farmers on it who offered me space on their land! So I ended up with 4 possibilities just by being asking around.
Your local association can sometimes help by connecting land owners who are offering to people who need space.
There is 'plan bee' which tries to link people up.
http://www.co-operative.coop/planbee/hivetalking

good luck with your search.
PD

Landshare is another possibility. As Redwood said GE is a good start to see what's close by.

 

[Maltey]

That was a brilliant link, thank you.
Apparently there's zero bee people in my area, but I did find somebody who's offering training a little way away so I've emailed her to see if I could visit her and her bees!
Thanks for all your replies so far

 

[Hachi]

County council website should list all the local parishes and there contact details. write to them or email. That should produce results. Be warned some people are genuinely concerned, mean well and want to help but make sure what they are offering is suitable for bee's.

 

[For want of a better word]

Befriend your local Church/Kirk/ Methodist/Ecclesiastical land owners
Grave yards ... cemeteries.. gardens of rest....make perfect apiaries.. quiet, often isolated, but accessible and full of nectar giving plants... great for bees...

AND they could always go and make love in dead Earnest !!!!

 

[asol]

I needed to find land in spring.
Although knocking on doors can be daunting I found it progressively easier as I spoke to more and more people.
Within a couple of days I had 3 options of land. I'm now settled and as pleased as punch with my apiary site.
My main targets were horses fields, find the owner and one thing leads to another. Not too many farms around here to go directly to farmhouses.
My rent? A couple of jars of honey but I'm sure I can stretch to a bottle of something at Xmas.
Good luck, I'm sure you'll find most people willing to assist.

Andrew

 

[Russel]

Befriend your local Church/Kirk/ Methodist/Ecclesiastical land owners
Grave yards ... cemeteries.. gardens of rest....make perfect apiaries.. quiet, often isolated, but accessible and full of nectar giving plants... great for bees...

AND they could always go and make love in dead Earnest !!!!

Forgot, some of our members have colonies at the local crematorium and local abbey.

 

[Oscarmonster]

Our local BKA sometimes has people contact them with offers of apiary sites. Might be worth joining if you haven't already.

 

[welly8490]

As I've been reading I notice a few people keep their hives on land away from their home. how do you go about finding this land?
I looked into renting an allotment but keeping bees on it didn't really fit in with their rules so I think that will be a no-go. Where else could I look?

When I was looking for some ware to site my bees I was a bit wary of contacting allotment managers, but after getting there names from the local council web site and writing to them I was presently surprised how enthusiastic they were for allowing hives on them. Give it a try.

 

[Limousin Lass]

Try here;

http://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php

 

[BeeJayBee]

You can check on google earth for farm land around your area and then go knocking doors, offer rent of a few jars of honey and if they agree then an apiary site meeting would be good, offer fencing your apiary if there are cattle/ live stock close by.

The first place you go to should be the one you least want to use, because you'll probably make a mess of asking.

Read up about out-apiaries and the best way of choosing a good site.

Plan ahead. Work out access - equipment can be heavy. Say where you'd like to put your hives, otherwise they will tell you where the hive(s) should go, and it won't always be satisfactory. Makes sure you can have access when it suits you, rather than when it suits the landowner.

Rent is usually 1lb jar of honey per colony per year.