Page 21 - ALG Issue 4 2014 Digital Edition

To Bee or not to Bee Chapter 1.....‘A year without’
In the spring of 2013 I was summoned from a rather sedate allotment committee meeting to the gate where Sue, a member of Stockport Beekeepers Association was waiting to ask about the possibility of keeping bees on the site.
‘Err no....never thought about it’ – ‘not sure we can have them... don’t they sting?’ I reply.
Sue confirmed they can sting and went on to inform me about the plight of the honey bee, especially after the winter of 2012 and what an important role they play pollinating allotment crops. I agreed to talk to the committee...another item for the now prolonged agenda!
A surprisingly instantaneous decision was made to agree to look further into beekeeping on the site and a meeting was arranged with Sue to answer plot holders questions and have a look around the site for a suitable position to house some hives. Having little
or no knowledge of beekeeping, the plot holders at the meeting
were initially a little cautious but Sue arrived with the ‘demi-god’ of Stockport beekeeping Roy, who answered our queries knowledgeably and fascinated us with the complexity of these intriguing little insects.
The next step involved a discussion with our Allotment Officer at Stockport MBC, who informed us that providing we could meet their criteria then an agreement could be given. Plot holders were quick to respond with a definite yes and the initial response from neighbours was positive, until I received a phone call from the Council to say that a neighbour had complained about the proximity of the proposed apiary to her garden so it was back to the drawing board.
A suitable area had to be found on our small site that would leave both the plot holders and bees in peace – the ideal area had to be discounted as the neighbouring plot holder’s children were known for their ‘inquisitiveness’ so another area was sought.
One of our committee members, Maureen, well known for her interest in nature (including weeds), offered part of her plot – problem sorted; however, it’s under shelter of trees so it’s not ideal.
Then it was back to the criteria required by the Council which included:
• A toilet for the bees as they are known to defecate on drying clothes and cars.
• Bees also don’t like the smell of leather including watch straps, soap, beer or sweat so that ruled out the hairy bikers as tenants!
• Screening is to be at least 10ft to increase the flight path of the bees.
• An experienced beekeeper to call on.
• Only a gentle strain of bees were to be kept on allotments.
• Check if any plot holders have an allergy.
We met Stockport MBC’s criteria so approval was granted in June 2013. The next step was to find out what tools and equipment we needed. As a committee we had decided that we wanted all plot holders to have the opportunity to learn about beekeeping and pass on their learned skills and knowledge to the general public. Five volunteers agreed to attend SBKA’s very popular nine week theory course at Stockport College.
After studying various beekeeping magazines, brochures and chatting with beekeepers we arrived at a staggering £3000 cost for the bee project. The long list including beehives, bees, equipment, suits, protected area, storage shed, training courses and lots of things we had never heard of. How could we come up with that kind
of money?
We had received grants before for improvements to the site so
we contacted Mark, Funding Officer with Stockport Homes. Mark was so enthusiastic about our ‘to bee or not to bee’ project that he agreed to help submit applications to Forever Manchester, who liked our approach and our applications were successful with a shortfall funded by Stockport Homes.
The winter was spent building hives for the bees to take up residence in spring 2014 and for those who had never even seen a National Hive before, this was a daunting task.
Several unsuccessful approaches were made to beekeepers for wintering bees but after bumping into Luis, a beekeeper in Poynton (also of Great British Bake Off fame), we were promised a colony ‘providing they get through winter’.
As spring 2014 approached, I attended SBKA theory course with the main learning points being:
Bees do sting.
Bees do not read the training manuals.
The course was excellent. It was tutored by local members of
SBKA who are wholly enthusiastic about looking after bees and sharing their knowledge (particularly where not to get stung). Every Monday night I would come home from college buzzing with another bee gem for my wife...’did you know that male bees die after mating with the queen?’ and ‘a healthy colony can hold around 60000 bees!’.
I finished the course with a certificate in hand, a beginners’ knowledge of beekeeping... but still no bees. Then a phone call came from Sue: “Luis says we can pick up the bees next Saturday!’
Excitement filled the air until I started to wonder ‘how do you pick up bees?’ Dressed in bee suits, thick gardening gloves, water sprays to hand and with luggage straps around a hive we took a leisurely, early morning drive back from Poynton, avoiding the usual Stockport potholes to arrive at Dial Park with the bees safe and left them in Luis’ hive until they had acclimatised for 24 hours. The last thing
we wanted was to open the hive and have the colony all fly back to Poynton.
So finally after a year’s planning, fundraising, learning and building we now have the bees...what next?
Find out in our next instalment.
Mark Shaw
Secretary
Dial Park Allotment Association dialparkallotments@gmail.com
Top tips for allotment beekeeping from Grant Smith
• Set up an apiary in an agreed place, rather than having hives on individual plots.
• Spend time agreeing the project and consulting – emphasize the value of bees as pollinators; be prepared to accommodate the needs of those with allergies or other concerns.
• Surround the apiary with two meter bee-proof fencing so bees fly up and away – over people’s heads.
• Provide water at a suitable place from the outset, to discourage bees from using watering points.
• Link with your local bee association and be prepared to show evidence of experience and ongoing learning – beekeeping is a responsibility in a public place – see documents online on the NAS website for guidance.
• Involve others – the more people on site are involved in the beekeeping project, the more sustainable it will be.
• Think about developing forage useful to bees and other pollinators to increase the biodiversity and environmental value of the site as a whole.
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