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Beekeeping is an ancient craft and agricuiltural activity, but many people stll enjoy it today, either for the honey and beeeswax, or simply for the love of the honey bee. Some 44,000 beekeepers manage over 250,000 hives in the UK. They produce about 6,000 tonnes of honey a year and each hive is worth about £600 to the UK economy
If you are considering having bees in your garden or on an allotment, for that matter, a fantastic resource is Beeginners. This site will get you buzzing with excitement (along with the bees on it). It is well written and covers has six easy to follow sections covering the Who's Who in the beekeeping world; getting started; day to day maintenance; removing your honey crop; problems, and a useful miscellaneous section.
The Getting Started section has practical advice & tips - discover the answers to questions such as...
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will bees mark my washing?
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will they annoy the neighbours or my pets?
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do I need a licence?
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what equipment will I need?
and later in problem sections:
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what do I do with bad tempered bees?help with swaming problems
Bees are disappearing. But Bees Matter.
33% of honey bee clones in the UK were lost last winter, and the UK's bumble bees are also suffering becuase they aren't enough wild flowers for them. Why are bees important? They pollinate a third of all the foods we eat. Bees are disappearing because of disease, changing weather patterns, pesticides and loss of habitat.
Help bees by giving them back some of their habitat, register your support for the Save Our Bees campaign & you'll receive lots of helpful info about planting flowers and plants in your garden to help the return of the bee |
Find out more at:
British Beekeepers Association gives you an opportunity to get used to bees before taking a dive into ownership. There are also regional, national and local events for you to get stuck into, as well as evening classes and weekend conferences.
BeeCraft Journal for Beekeepers, the Beekeeping Journal for Beginners and Seasoned Apiarists . Beekeeping information, shop and UK courses on all aspects of Beekeeping.
Help the Bumblebee - coming soon |
