Our local allotment site allowed me to put some bees on there for them, they were placed in the rough ground away from exploring children. None were allowed within an actual allotment. I did not pay for it as it was them that wanted the bees there for obvious reasons and asked me to put a hive over there. (I put 2 there)My other half TinaL is the Site Rep at our allotments, we have many beekeepers across the many allotment sites here in Surrey Heath.
It has become a requisite to show proof by way of a certificate that anyone wishing to keep bees has the correct knowledge of how to keep bees before allowing them to bring hives to the allotments. They also have to erect small fences around their hives and place safety notices giving out contact details of where the can be contacted.
We have learnt several lessons about allowing beekeepers to take up valuable plots on the allotments, as they are primary there for people to grow crops,& cultivate regularly, however we have had instances where some were only interested in keeping their hives and not maintaining their plots, allowing them to become overgrown & weed infested .i.e A bloody eyesore & nuisance to the neighbouring plots.
Having had one (expert) Beekeeper vacate his plot due to moving overseas, we had the mammoth task of clearing the plot to make it ready to be handed over to a new tenant. We discovered that his plot was not only covered in weeds but also Rhubarb & Globe Artichoke plants, as apparently the bees love these plants, it took us volunteers ages to clear, only bonus was there were plenty of Rhubarb plants to be shared out afterwards.
All we can do is ask beekeepers to be mindful of their bees swarming, and try and manage it better, we appreciate is a natural occurrence, but we are sick & tired now of all the complaints we receive from other plot holders each time it happens, its almost like TinaL is being accused of not managing the beekeepers strongly enough, in other words not doing her job properly.
There are children at times on the plots, they should be fully supervised at all times, but we all know what kids are like, we are just hoping that they stay away from the hives, and not throw sticks at them!
I think that after many years of managing the site, TinaL is on top of things, but you cannot please everyone all the time, and when someone gets stung, you never hear the end of it, and the list of their allergies etc.
I know beekeeping is a rewarding hobby, and Bees are great pollinators etc lucrative also at £7.50 a jar, but its a pain in the posterior to everyone else that not interested, especially after a swarm episode.
What are we supposed to do, carry an Epi Pen round our necks, we have already been asked when we are going to have defibrillators on every allotment site, everyone know we have a first aid kit in our shed, its not unusual for us to have run out of plasters & anti histamine cream for nettle stings & insect bites.
Boots The Chemist springs to mind!
Sorry just had to give the full picture from all sides.
LES on behalf of TinaL Allotment Site Rep.
Yes, I've had to bring them back early when the heather's been poor. There's been a problem recently with the heather beetle which eats the young shoots before they flower. However, last summer wasn't too bad.
Sex
That's one I've never heard of before. Are you speaking from experience? I'd be concerned they'd still be there but all dead either from starvation or overheating by the time I returned.If you tightly tie a large black bin bag over the hive before you go on holiday, they'll all still be there when you get back
I just think that Wasps get a bum rap sometimesTake no notice of Eddie, he's obviously not alover ... although I believe he is called a 'b' at times!
Most flying insects are 'good' as they pollinate the plants etc, even wasps are useful and I'd never kill one unless it got to the point where there wasn't any other option.
Clipping the queen's wings, or more usually just one wing, doesn't stop the bees swarming. What happens is the swarming bees take flight but the non-aerodynamic queen falls to the ground below the hive entrance. The flying bees will settle somewhere but after a while they realise HM isn't present so they return to the hive. The advantage for the beekeeper is they should still get a good crop of honey which doesn't happen if the bees properly swarm and 50% of the bee population scrapers.I wish the beekeepers at our allotments would clip the queens wings at or before the swarming period, its a bloody nuisance when they do swarm, everyone gives up working on their plots and has to go home.
One year we called up one of the beekeepers (supposed to be an expert) when his bees were swarming everywhere, when he eventually appeared and saw the massive swarm, he just stood back and said......Ah! isn't nature a wonderful thing!
I thought it was because another queen bee had been born, and only one is allowed to live in the hive, its a fight to the death to see which one stays. They sometimes swarm and the queen attaches itself to something like a tree branch, and thousands of other worker bees follow it and surround it in a great big living clump.
I need to read up more on this, as I want to try and get the beekeepers to do something to stop the swarming, especially for those who claim to be allergic to bee stings.
LES
I had some jam made from wasps with my anticlockwise haggis caught on the hill
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