Beekeeper Mark Meadows (sure, his title is a superb piece of nominative determinism) grew up on a dairy farm in Zimbabwe the place his grandfather was a business beekeeper.
A number of birthdays in the past his household couldn’t suppose what to get him, so chipped in for a beehive. Now he has three. “You begin with one hive however that all the time grows, most beekeepers can have two or three, or perhaps 4,” says Meadows, founding father of Buzz Field. “It’s very addictive.”
Within the Fifties, there have been round 80,000 beekeepers within the UK, a determine that had plummeted to 9,000 by the 12 months 2000. At the moment, there’s 46-47,000 and Meadows is on a private mission to get that as much as 100,000.
So what do budding apiarists (the right time period for beekeepers) have to find out about taking care of bees?
When to begin
From now by means of till August is an efficient time to get into beekeeping, and Meadows recommends doing all of your analysis forward of shopping for a hive. “There are many beekeepers that provide beekeeping experiences,” he says. “You possibly can spend a few hours with a beekeeper who will get you in a swimsuit and open up a hive for you and provide you with a taster. Beekeepers are itching to inform you about beekeeping.”
How a lot house do you want?
When you solely have a balcony, Meadows says it could possibly be “difficult” however not unattainable to maintain bees. Nonetheless, “a courtyard backyard is sufficiently big.” Hives are usually 50cmx50cm, “so it doesn’t take up an enormous footprint. While you’re inspecting them throughout summertime, you want a bit of little bit of house round that so you may take the roof off. 2sqm is an efficient quantity of house for a hive, ideally in a quieter a part of the backyard.”
And don’t fear about your backyard being stuffed with bees. “They go away the hive to forage and can fly as much as three miles away,” says Meadows, so that you don’t need to preserve the home windows closed all summer time.
What package is important?
“The bees are successfully wild animals, they know take care of themselves, we’ve simply received to verify we give them someplace they will dwell they usually’re secure and comfortable,” says Meadows. You’ll simply want…
1. A hive
“You want a hive that’s sufficiently big for a colony, in order that’s three containers,” says Meadows, outlining how that often contains one brood field and two tremendous containers. “Brood containers are deeper and on the backside, that’s the place the queen will keep and lay eggs and the employee bees will increase the bees. Within the supers, positioned on high, the bees will retailer the honey, and also you’ll harvest from these containers.”
2. A beekeeping swimsuit
“You want a swimsuit, with hat and a veil and a few gloves,” says Meadows. That is to assist shield you from bee stings when opening up the hive.
3. A smoker
“A smoker is all the time useful. It’s used to puff smoke across the bees whenever you’re working with them,” says Meadows. “If bees really feel underneath risk, they’ll launch a sure pheromone that calls them out; just a few puffs of smoke will defuse that and preserve the bees a bit calmer.”
4. A hive software
“It’s a bit like a chisel,” says Meadows explaining the way it’s used to lever frames out of the hive whenever you’re checking them.
How do you appeal to the bees?
“When you’re very fortunate bees will transfer into your hive, it’s very uncommon but it surely does occur,” says Meadows tantalisingly. Some beekeepers will even arrange an empty ‘bait’ hive in case a swarm is within the space and takes a elaborate to it.
The commonest solution to get bees although, is to purchase a nucleus colony from a beekeeper. “It’s a half or a 3rd of the scale of a traditional hive,” explains Meadows. “You’ll have 5 or 6 frames stuffed with honeycomb and a queen laying eggs. You place these into your hive and over the subsequent 4 to 6 weeks, your hive can be stuffed.”
The queen lays as much as 2,000 eggs a day, which suggests 2,000 new bees a day, so your hive can swell fairly quickly. “It’s unimaginable,” says Meadows.
How a lot work is it?
Typically talking, the bees will just about handle themselves. “You shouldn’t open the hive greater than as soon as every week,” says Meadows. Throughout that weekly examine, “you’re checking if the queen is there. When you see eggs, you recognize she’s been there throughout the final three days. You’re checking the bees have sufficient house. Because the colony expands, you may add a brilliant field to offer them extra space.” You’re additionally maintaining a watch out for pests and ailments, just like the Varroa mite, a devastating parasite that feeds on honey bees.
The examine will seemingly take an hour or two. “You may find yourself spending longer as a result of it’s so fascinating,” says Meadows. “You possibly can even watch new bees hatching, consuming their method out of the comb.”
When are you able to begin harvesting honey?
“Accountable beekeepers will be sure there’s all the time sufficient honey within the hive for the bees,” says Meadows. “That’s what they eat by means of the winter.”
Most harvest two or 3 times a 12 months. “It relies upon how sturdy your colony is, and the way a lot honey they’re storing,” says Meadows. “In case your bees have entry to fields of oilseed rape, that’s one in every of their favorite issues, they’ll be packing away honey, so for those who’re fortunate, you can begin harvesting in Could/June.”
How do you make your backyard extra bee-friendly?
Whether or not you go for pollinator-friendly vegetation like lavender, borage, echinacea, rudbeckia, crocus, cosmos, verbena or herbs, do not forget that, “after they’re out foraging, on any explicit flight, bees will solely go to one sure kind of plant, so for those who can, don’t plant one in every of every factor, plant just a few of every so there’s extra of the identical factor for the bees to forage,” says Meadows. “It’s a partnership between us and them.”
What are the probabilities you’ll get stung?
There’s all the time a threat of being stung – these are bees in spite of everything. “In the event that they really feel like they’re being threatened then they’ll defend themselves,” says Meadows, who is definitely allergic to bee stings. “It’s very uncommon that you just’d have an actively aggressive hive, however that does occur.”
It’s attainable to exchange the queen if that does occur. “The queen dictates the temperament of the hive,” he explains. “You possibly can order a queen by subsequent day supply from a bee provider, she will come by put up in a queen cage, she’ll have 4 or 5 employee bees along with her that may take care of her.” Inside every week or so, the colony might be a lot calmer.
