I think bee's are facinating and feel it is a great shame that my site doesnt allow the keeping of bee,s however they do allow us to keep chickens which is something im definately thinking about!!
We at edge lane allotments In East Manchester are currently undergoing a whole refurbishment of our 4 acre site that was due to close this time last year. we have won the battle against the developers and now it is time to move on .
We have a waiting list now a good community plot and a good mix of livestock and growers all we are missing now is Bees, the council are changing there attitude toward the keeping of bees as long as they are society managed there concern is that If a single plot holder has hives on his plot and leaves what will happen to the bees and who will pay the cost of removing them? which I understand, so I am hopeing that we on the committee will all get the chance to attend a free bee keeping course and do our bit to encourage the sustainability of our British Bees which are so Important to all our lives.
We started our new allotment a couple of months ago and looked into the possibility of keeping bees there, precisely because of the current problems - after all, we all know how important they are to our allotments!
We didn't get as far as asking officially about the possibility of keeping bees on our plot, though, for two reasons.
Firstly, and most importantly, it seems there is more to keeping bees than bunging them in a hive and leaving them to it ;-)
Bee keeping appears to be a fairly specialised job, requiring specialised knowledge, and not something to be taken lightly. There are lots of bee keeping associations around, who are excellent resources and keen to pass on their knowledge, but this requires a commitment in both time and money that the average plot-holder might not be in a position to give. We did a lot of research, in our local library, on the internet and by phoning various keepers, amateur and professional, but decided in the end that it would not be as easy as we thought!
Secondly, bees carry a certain image, making the news only when they are acting in a 'threatening' ( though not unusual ) manner - by swarming out of the hive in search of a better place to live, for example. After all, bees are rather harder to contain than chickens or pigeons! And, bees do sting, with some people having a bad reaction to their stings. This might be a rare thing, but I have found that the health & safety aspects are foremost in people's minds when you mention you're thinking of keeping bees, especially when it comes to self-managed allotment sites.
Anyway, whilst I support the idea of more people keeping bees, and would love to be able to do so myself, it is a complicated subject best researched and taken on with a proper idea of the skills and equipment involved. It was suggested several times that I join my local branch of the British Beekeepers Association, which I think is a great idea - they run classes and free taster days all over the country - but rather beyond my meager budget!
I will be interested to read of other allotmenteer's experiences, both with bees and attitudes of councils and committees.
...I do understand all about the shortage of bees and the long term effects. However - Mrs selfish here.
1. I am absolutely bloody terrified of them and that would be the end of my enjoyment - however few were coming and going.
2. Our allotments run between 2 rows of houses - I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way. We have had some bees on the clock tower of our chapel in school and I had bees in my opffice on many occasions. I dont think we can force people to keep their doors and windows closed who may live nearby.
3. My neighbour is allergic to them and that is no joke.
4. Who is to say everyone in a set of plots will want them?
i have been at our allotments now for 12 years and noone as ever mentiond keeping bees there there is no rules at our place saying you cant keep bees but there is a new plot holder wich is keen on the idea and he is going to check with the council just to make sure its ok.we hardly saw any bees last year our beans werte the worst they have ever been. hope itl be a better year this year. terry
A fellow allotmenteer keeps bees off site was refused a request to place hive(s) on the allotment. Shame as we need these insects to pollinate our veg/fruit.
I kept Bees for some 30 years, and only gave up when I moved to North Wales,
Now we have started a family Allotment, I am considering starting again, Honey Bees are useful to the Allotmenteer, and of course to fruit growers and Farmers alike.
But equally 'Bumble' Bees are just as important, at this time of the year they are searching for old abandoned Mouse holes to start their colonies in, (they actually smell them out) so if you've a hedge or old wall around your allotment, keep an eye out for these friendly and virtually harmless workers, even better, if your Children have pet mice, find a quiet sunny bank or old wall away from water run off, and make a few 'false mice nests' in a sunny spot form a slightly uphill hole about the diameter of a Handle, with a chamber about the size of a teacup or mug is good, and put some of your pet mouse litter in it, you can do all this on top of the ground if you like and just lay a good flat stone over it and seal the edges with soil so only the entrance is showing, .
Wasps also do an immense amount of good in the Garden, they're great insect predators, and rumoured to be the 'Bees Knees' at pollinating Runner Beans, but if you find a nest give it a wide birth, and put a notice up to warn others, remember Bees, Wasps, and almost any insect will not harm you if you do not harm them.
Saw
Catherine Gibb, Secretary, lenthall Road allotments Oxford emailed to say:
"Our allottments in central Oxford are not allowed to keep 'livstock' and bees are classed as such. In fact because we have some level of vandalism, it would be unwise to keep bees or any other livestock on our site."
"Hi we are quite at odds with the town council at the moment with regard to doing anything on allotments.
A few years ago a freind of mine had 3 hives on the allotment but people complained about the flight path taken by the bees so he finished up erecting barriers so that the bees had to fly higher and it seemed to work but sadly the old guy died and the hives were removed
We are on Oxcroft Lane Allotments at Bolsover and I think Bolsover Old Town Council are the only one in the country who do not seem to want anyone to have an allotment
Just type Bolsover Allotments in the Google search engine and up our web site pops
I think bee keeping on allotments is a great idea. With bees in demise we should do everything we can to help them out and an allotment is probably one of the best places for them. If we don't we will be the ones suffering in the long term with low yields year after year.
A bee keeping request was turned down by my council. I can understand why care has to be taken. A number of people can suffer anaphylactic attacks from bee stings, all allotmenteers were asked if they were in favour and a decision was taken not to allow hives on site.
Would 'unmanged' beehives prepetuate the problem until a cause/solution is found ?. Me and the kids went to Weston park Museum the other weekend to show their Mum the bee colony there. We were really dissapointed to see that one had succumbed to 'Hive Death'....Also can anyone tell me why Morrisons are selling a jar of honey at £9.95 !!!!!!!!!!...thats a lot of £ per square inch of toast.
Council's are indeed changing their attitude to the keeping of bees on allotments and allotment holders have reported improvement in quality and quanity of produce where this has occured.
There are however certain aspect to be bourne in mind.
1 The Beekeeper should be a full member of a Beekeeping Association affiliated to the British Beekeepers Association.for -
a) He will have Insurace cover for his activities
b) He will have a source of help when needed
c) The Council can be assured that there will be beekeepers available to remove the hives, usually without cost, if the allotment holder give up.
2) The hives should be sited in a position where the line of flight is not directly across another allotment. The erection of wattle fencing, a short distance around the front and sides of the hives, will assist with this.
3)The Beekeepers should avoid examining the bees when a neighbouring allotment is being worked.
A note for Allotmenteers. A swarm of bees is unlike to sting whilst it is swarming or has settled. Even after a few days it will still be unlikely to sting unless it is wilfully disturbed. If a swarm settles on an allotment it may well not be those from the hives on the allotments but the beekeper who is known shouild be informaed immediately.
Trust this will help allay some of the uneccessary concerns expressed about bees on allotments.
Having spoken to our local council, Hull City Council, I learned that one of our plot holders had requested that they are permitted to keep bees, I was very surprised to learn, also, that they actually said yes! I was very happy that they had as it can only help our site and help to raise our profile, which I have been trying to do since the begining of this year. I only recently set up the association, as it folded about ten years ago, I have had a lot of contact with our local council, who have been really helpful, giving us access to the containers on site and also as I mentioned earlier, permitting people to keep bees, I suppose not all the councils work the same way, our site is in a built up area, and there are 96 plots on it so it is one of the larger ones, but up to press there have been no objections shown regarding the bee keeping, lots and lots of people have said how it can only help and the keepers are affiliated to the bee keepers association too so they are checked regularly. I see no reason why councils can object really. I am aprehensive about bees, worried about getting stung maybe, but this is very unlikely unless the bees are disturbed from what I can gather! and as long as I can get on and do what i need to do im sure they will leave me to my own devices and vice versa!!
I hope you find this an interesting read.
Jayne
As im the representative on my site I asked about bee hives being put on a plot, But I had to say NO due to all the other Plot holders say no and said no because im allergic to BEE sting,s
I am married to our local Allotment Officer and I am unable to persude my local council to let us keep Bees.
According to the council it is a health and safety policy, ie because an allotment holder was stung by a bee where hives were kept in the past and that allotmemt holder complained. The council withdrew the right to keep bees on any of their allotments from that time onwards.
I firmly believe that the bee population in the world is falling and everybody should do what they can to increase the population and by letting allotment holders keep bees this would help.
ok so we should be getting some... FOR the allotment here in blackpool,
im ok with it.. but my mom.. NOOOOOO she is allergic, so she has a problem with it..
it would be fantastic to be able to keep bees on our allotment but up to now the belgrave allotment sociaty wont allow it on our site as we have a school right behind our plot but it would be great for the enviroment and for my crop. i think keeping chickens would be great too just think all that free manure.
I can't understand why all allotments don't have Bee Hives on site. They would be such a benefit for all the plot holders. I can understand that some people may be a bit scared of getting stung, but I love to see them buzzing around my flower beds at home. My wife and the kids set up loads of large hollowed out bamboo around the bottom of our garden, so not to lose too many of them over winter, we also plant early and late flowing nectar rich flowers for them. This is my first year on an allotment site, only taking over the plot two weeks ago. I was Shocked that no one was allowed to keep bee's. There is a large waste bit of land at the back of the site, which would in my mind be ideal for a few hives, as no one goes down there. I'm sure every site has a space like that for a few hives.
Thankyou for the post, It was very well informed and helped a lot, if you don’t mind I would like to use the information on it to petition my site and council.
I was thinking of keeping bees 3 years ago, so I paid to do an intensive Beekeeping Course run by the British Beekeepers Association.
I was shocked as to how much there is to keeping bees, not only the rare possibilty of being stung, to the high possibility of the bees swarming never mind the fatal varroa mite, which will wipe out hives once it gets it's little toe in to your hive.
If you are still keen to keep bees and grow veg then get yourself on one of these courses first, and then decide, please do not jump in it is not as easy to do both as keeping bees and growing veg are both full time jobs, especially bees.
On our allotment in St Helens we are not allowed to keep chickens but have just agreed to allow one of our plot holders to bring on site two hives - he is a member of the bee keepers association, has undergone 12 mths of thorough training and has a huge insurance - we put up a sign alerting all to the request and asking for anyone who did not wish for this to go ahead to come forward - we had one lady who is allergic and carries an epe pen - but even she was in favour - we have chosen an excellent site and it is being prepared with high fences and secure footings for the hives - we are all eager to have the bees and are looking forward to better crops - not to mention the chance of a small jar of honey in the future! - We have the number of the local bee keeper in case of problems/swarms and feel that managed correctly this will be nothing but a delight!!
In my opinion done properly and responsibly this can be nothing but good news for all growers
We are lucky as ours do, I
SaS2009 Posted at 16:36 on Wed, 03/25/2009We are lucky as ours do, I have 2 lots with hives on round me.
unfortunately our dosent
fordadie Posted at 23:56 on Mon, 03/30/2009I think bee's are facinating and feel it is a great shame that my site doesnt allow the keeping of bee,s however they do allow us to keep chickens which is something im definately thinking about!!
bees
Patrickmaher Posted at 10:44 on Wed, 04/01/2009We at edge lane allotments In East Manchester are currently undergoing a whole refurbishment of our 4 acre site that was due to close this time last year. we have won the battle against the developers and now it is time to move on .
We have a waiting list now a good community plot and a good mix of livestock and growers all we are missing now is Bees, the council are changing there attitude toward the keeping of bees as long as they are society managed there concern is that If a single plot holder has hives on his plot and leaves what will happen to the bees and who will pay the cost of removing them? which I understand, so I am hopeing that we on the committee will all get the chance to attend a free bee keeping course and do our bit to encourage the sustainability of our British Bees which are so Important to all our lives.
Patrick maher
To the regiment
utrinqu paratus
Bee Keeping
Mandie47 Posted at 10:48 on Wed, 04/01/2009Hi There...
We started our new allotment a couple of months ago and looked into the possibility of keeping bees there, precisely because of the current problems - after all, we all know how important they are to our allotments!
We didn't get as far as asking officially about the possibility of keeping bees on our plot, though, for two reasons.
Firstly, and most importantly, it seems there is more to keeping bees than bunging them in a hive and leaving them to it ;-)
Bee keeping appears to be a fairly specialised job, requiring specialised knowledge, and not something to be taken lightly. There are lots of bee keeping associations around, who are excellent resources and keen to pass on their knowledge, but this requires a commitment in both time and money that the average plot-holder might not be in a position to give. We did a lot of research, in our local library, on the internet and by phoning various keepers, amateur and professional, but decided in the end that it would not be as easy as we thought!
Secondly, bees carry a certain image, making the news only when they are acting in a 'threatening' ( though not unusual ) manner - by swarming out of the hive in search of a better place to live, for example. After all, bees are rather harder to contain than chickens or pigeons! And, bees do sting, with some people having a bad reaction to their stings. This might be a rare thing, but I have found that the health & safety aspects are foremost in people's minds when you mention you're thinking of keeping bees, especially when it comes to self-managed allotment sites.
Anyway, whilst I support the idea of more people keeping bees, and would love to be able to do so myself, it is a complicated subject best researched and taken on with a proper idea of the skills and equipment involved. It was suggested several times that I join my local branch of the British Beekeepers Association, which I think is a great idea - they run classes and free taster days all over the country - but rather beyond my meager budget!
I will be interested to read of other allotmenteer's experiences, both with bees and attitudes of councils and committees.
Sorry....
justine Posted at 13:32 on Wed, 04/01/2009...I do understand all about the shortage of bees and the long term effects. However - Mrs selfish here.
1. I am absolutely bloody terrified of them and that would be the end of my enjoyment - however few were coming and going.
2. Our allotments run between 2 rows of houses - I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way. We have had some bees on the clock tower of our chapel in school and I had bees in my opffice on many occasions. I dont think we can force people to keep their doors and windows closed who may live nearby.
3. My neighbour is allergic to them and that is no joke.
4. Who is to say everyone in a set of plots will want them?
Just an alternative point of view
bee keeping on allotments
terence Posted at 19:12 on Wed, 04/01/2009i have been at our allotments now for 12 years and noone as ever mentiond keeping bees there there is no rules at our place saying you cant keep bees but there is a new plot holder wich is keen on the idea and he is going to check with the council just to make sure its ok.we hardly saw any bees last year our beans werte the worst they have ever been. hope itl be a better year this year. terry
bee hives
spapac Posted at 20:33 on Wed, 04/01/2009A fellow allotmenteer keeps bees off site was refused a request to place hive(s) on the allotment. Shame as we need these insects to pollinate our veg/fruit.
bees
limpetboy Posted at 06:41 on Thu, 04/02/2009we can not on our allotment but i think we should.Local honey is good for hayfeaver so i am told
Bees
ShirLow Posted at 08:49 on Thu, 04/02/2009I kept Bees for some 30 years, and only gave up when I moved to North Wales,
Now we have started a family Allotment, I am considering starting again, Honey Bees are useful to the Allotmenteer, and of course to fruit growers and Farmers alike.
But equally 'Bumble' Bees are just as important, at this time of the year they are searching for old abandoned Mouse holes to start their colonies in, (they actually smell them out) so if you've a hedge or old wall around your allotment, keep an eye out for these friendly and virtually harmless workers, even better, if your Children have pet mice, find a quiet sunny bank or old wall away from water run off, and make a few 'false mice nests' in a sunny spot form a slightly uphill hole about the diameter of a Handle, with a chamber about the size of a teacup or mug is good, and put some of your pet mouse litter in it, you can do all this on top of the ground if you like and just lay a good flat stone over it and seal the edges with soil so only the entrance is showing, .
Wasps also do an immense amount of good in the Garden, they're great insect predators, and rumoured to be the 'Bees Knees' at pollinating Runner Beans, but if you find a nest give it a wide birth, and put a notice up to warn others, remember Bees, Wasps, and almost any insect will not harm you if you do not harm them.
Saw
Vandalism
tumbledown Posted at 10:20 on Sun, 04/12/2009Catherine Gibb, Secretary, lenthall Road allotments Oxford emailed to say:
"Our allottments in central Oxford are not allowed to keep 'livstock' and bees are classed as such. In fact because we have some level of vandalism, it would be unwise to keep bees or any other livestock on our site."
At odds
tumbledown Posted at 10:21 on Sun, 04/12/2009Alan Cooper emailed to say:
"Hi we are quite at odds with the town council at the moment with regard to doing anything on allotments.
A few years ago a freind of mine had 3 hives on the allotment but people complained about the flight path taken by the bees so he finished up erecting barriers so that the bees had to fly higher and it seemed to work but sadly the old guy died and the hives were removed
We are on Oxcroft Lane Allotments at Bolsover and I think Bolsover Old Town Council are the only one in the country who do not seem to want anyone to have an allotment
Just type Bolsover Allotments in the Google search engine and up our web site pops
Cheers..."
Great Idea
Kay Stewart Posted at 18:31 on Mon, 04/13/2009I think bee keeping on allotments is a great idea. With bees in demise we should do everything we can to help them out and an allotment is probably one of the best places for them. If we don't we will be the ones suffering in the long term with low yields year after year.
Bee keeping
PaulBrindley123 Posted at 09:00 on Mon, 05/04/2009A bee keeping request was turned down by my council. I can understand why care has to be taken. A number of people can suffer anaphylactic attacks from bee stings, all allotmenteers were asked if they were in favour and a decision was taken not to allow hives on site.
Would 'unmanged' beehives
richsixtynine Posted at 10:27 on Wed, 05/13/2009Would 'unmanged' beehives prepetuate the problem until a cause/solution is found ?. Me and the kids went to Weston park Museum the other weekend to show their Mum the bee colony there. We were really dissapointed to see that one had succumbed to 'Hive Death'....Also can anyone tell me why Morrisons are selling a jar of honey at £9.95 !!!!!!!!!!...thats a lot of £ per square inch of toast.
Beekeeping
William Mundy Posted at 14:14 on Fri, 05/22/2009Council's are indeed changing their attitude to the keeping of bees on allotments and allotment holders have reported improvement in quality and quanity of produce where this has occured.
There are however certain aspect to be bourne in mind.
1 The Beekeeper should be a full member of a Beekeeping Association affiliated to the British Beekeepers Association.for -
a) He will have Insurace cover for his activities
b) He will have a source of help when needed
c) The Council can be assured that there will be beekeepers available to remove the hives, usually without cost, if the allotment holder give up.
2) The hives should be sited in a position where the line of flight is not directly across another allotment. The erection of wattle fencing, a short distance around the front and sides of the hives, will assist with this.
3)The Beekeepers should avoid examining the bees when a neighbouring allotment is being worked.
A note for Allotmenteers. A swarm of bees is unlike to sting whilst it is swarming or has settled. Even after a few days it will still be unlikely to sting unless it is wilfully disturbed. If a swarm settles on an allotment it may well not be those from the hives on the allotments but the beekeper who is known shouild be informaed immediately.
Trust this will help allay some of the uneccessary concerns expressed about bees on allotments.
President. Kent beekeepers Association.
Bees
dawnlesley Posted at 08:48 on Thu, 09/10/2009Our council has just given me permission, now I've got to get the agreement of nearby plot holders!
bees on allotments
cardoon Posted at 17:02 on Fri, 09/11/2009our council has refused to allow hives on allotments, but this would increase the biodiversity of the sites and help bee survival.
Beeeeezzzz
jayne666666 Posted at 21:51 on Fri, 09/11/2009Having spoken to our local council, Hull City Council, I learned that one of our plot holders had requested that they are permitted to keep bees, I was very surprised to learn, also, that they actually said yes! I was very happy that they had as it can only help our site and help to raise our profile, which I have been trying to do since the begining of this year. I only recently set up the association, as it folded about ten years ago, I have had a lot of contact with our local council, who have been really helpful, giving us access to the containers on site and also as I mentioned earlier, permitting people to keep bees, I suppose not all the councils work the same way, our site is in a built up area, and there are 96 plots on it so it is one of the larger ones, but up to press there have been no objections shown regarding the bee keeping, lots and lots of people have said how it can only help and the keepers are affiliated to the bee keepers association too so they are checked regularly. I see no reason why councils can object really. I am aprehensive about bees, worried about getting stung maybe, but this is very unlikely unless the bees are disturbed from what I can gather! and as long as I can get on and do what i need to do im sure they will leave me to my own devices and vice versa!!
I hope you find this an interesting read.
Jayne
bee keeping on allotments
2 plots Posted at 13:55 on Sun, 11/01/2009As im the representative on my site I asked about bee hives being put on a plot, But I had to say NO due to all the other Plot holders say no and said no because im allergic to BEE sting,s
Bee Keeping
Mac1 Posted at 14:45 on Sun, 11/15/2009I am married to our local Allotment Officer and I am unable to persude my local council to let us keep Bees.
According to the council it is a health and safety policy, ie because an allotment holder was stung by a bee where hives were kept in the past and that allotmemt holder complained. The council withdrew the right to keep bees on any of their allotments from that time onwards.
I firmly believe that the bee population in the world is falling and everybody should do what they can to increase the population and by letting allotment holders keep bees this would help.
thats good m8 keep it up
lukeh92 Posted at 10:09 on Mon, 11/30/2009thats good m8 keep it up
ifi....
gizooty Posted at 20:13 on Thu, 12/03/2009ok so we should be getting some... FOR the allotment here in blackpool,
im ok with it.. but my mom.. NOOOOOO she is allergic, so she has a problem with it..
I Have a bee hive @ home but
thestig009 Posted at 22:55 on Fri, 01/15/2010I Have a bee hive @ home but i never get any bees now i know why
it would be fantastic to be
adrian howkins Posted at 12:05 on Sat, 01/23/2010it would be fantastic to be able to keep bees on our allotment but up to now the belgrave allotment sociaty wont allow it on our site as we have a school right behind our plot but it would be great for the enviroment and for my crop. i think keeping chickens would be great too just think all that free manure.
Nature needs a helping hand
bemean Posted at 12:40 on Sun, 03/28/2010I can't understand why all allotments don't have Bee Hives on site. They would be such a benefit for all the plot holders. I can understand that some people may be a bit scared of getting stung, but I love to see them buzzing around my flower beds at home. My wife and the kids set up loads of large hollowed out bamboo around the bottom of our garden, so not to lose too many of them over winter, we also plant early and late flowing nectar rich flowers for them. This is my first year on an allotment site, only taking over the plot two weeks ago. I was Shocked that no one was allowed to keep bee's. There is a large waste bit of land at the back of the site, which would in my mind be ideal for a few hives, as no one goes down there. I'm sure every site has a space like that for a few hives.
Great advice
bemean Posted at 12:46 on Sun, 03/28/2010Thankyou for the post, It was very well informed and helped a lot, if you don’t mind I would like to use the information on it to petition my site and council.
maybe the local councils
limpetboy Posted at 08:27 on Tue, 03/30/2010maybe the local councils could give a space to pro bee keepers
on our way
deathwish Posted at 11:16 on Wed, 06/23/2010we are currently in the process of getting bees on our site,should be good not onlt for us but neighbouring homes.
Beekeeping, it's not that easy
y0urman Posted at 22:15 on Sun, 08/01/2010I was thinking of keeping bees 3 years ago, so I paid to do an intensive Beekeeping Course run by the British Beekeepers Association.
I was shocked as to how much there is to keeping bees, not only the rare possibilty of being stung, to the high possibility of the bees swarming never mind the fatal varroa mite, which will wipe out hives once it gets it's little toe in to your hive.
If you are still keen to keep bees and grow veg then get yourself on one of these courses first, and then decide, please do not jump in it is not as easy to do both as keeping bees and growing veg are both full time jobs, especially bees.
Bee Keeping
franzipan Posted at 22:38 on Mon, 05/30/2011On our allotment in St Helens we are not allowed to keep chickens but have just agreed to allow one of our plot holders to bring on site two hives - he is a member of the bee keepers association, has undergone 12 mths of thorough training and has a huge insurance - we put up a sign alerting all to the request and asking for anyone who did not wish for this to go ahead to come forward - we had one lady who is allergic and carries an epe pen - but even she was in favour - we have chosen an excellent site and it is being prepared with high fences and secure footings for the hives - we are all eager to have the bees and are looking forward to better crops - not to mention the chance of a small jar of honey in the future! - We have the number of the local bee keeper in case of problems/swarms and feel that managed correctly this will be nothing but a delight!!
In my opinion done properly and responsibly this can be nothing but good news for all growers
fingers crossed
Tanya Posted at 08:03 on Sat, 06/04/2011our allotment committee are in talks with local beekeepers hoping that them will put hives on the allotment.
will keep you informed
:)
Tanya
dont like
farmerjohn Posted at 18:21 on Sat, 11/26/2011dont like hives but like honey