Page 30 - ALG Issue 1 2017

Artists Corner...
Inner City Beekeeping
In 2015 I began documenting the work of an apiarist (from Latin apis ‘bee’), a beekeeper within the city of Basingstoke. In a designated area, north of the railway lies Southview, an expansive piece of land lled with allotments where all sorts of fruit, vegetable and other plants are cultivated. As with many allotments there are some beehives that are tucked away under trees.
I was curious to know how such populations of bees are managed in times of declining bee numbers. I visited the site in early spring
to meet with an allotment holder, Roger, who is also a keeper of
bees on his plot. He explained that, although numbers of bees are dwindling, the enthusiasm for the art of beekeeping is not. He was keen to point out that with a lot of care and nurturing, he can maintain a swarm of bees and successfully harvest signi cant amounts of honey. He informed me that this is not without its downfalls; disease and pollution, particularly in cities, is a great problem and an ongoing challenge, but it can be tackled by feeding the colonies and cleaning the hive to keep the swarm in the hive. He pulled out a 20cm square of plastic sheet from the base of the hive and it was covered with detritus from the bees and their activity in the hive. I was surprised
to be told that bees can be messy but it turns out this is not only just from the bees, but also from pollutants too.
A lack of wild ower meadows and diminishing local green spaces as well as pesticides and other pollutants affect the hives. Pollen
of some seed oil crops which are cultivated locally also affect the hives as this pollen hardens, making the honeycomb useless to bees and as a food crop for harvesting. The intricate and complex community within bee colonies depends on certain environments to thrive; contaminants will cause the bee to starve as well as imported diseases and the increasing threat of hornet swarms. However,
beekeepers seem con dent with an increasing interest in cultivation of outdoor space and burgeoning interest in beekeeping, so the future for apiary looks positive. Meryn Weaver 2016
Meryn is a graduate of Farnham West Surrey College of Art and Design and postgraduate of photojournalism and documentary photography from University of the Arts London. Her practice centres on environmental and social issues, making representations that
are both analogous and phenological in their approach. For more information please contact meryntweaver@gmail.com
Meryn Weaver, Photojournalist
30