Should we bee more serious about beekeeping?
Honey Bees. Small, fuzzy, black and yellow. To some, they’re terrifying mini monsters, who buzz around your personal space, ready to sting at any point. To others, they’re tiny superheroes who are saving the environment, one beehive at a time.
Bees have always been a key part of the world, from the humble bumble to the honey bee they have always stuck around.
With the recent climate emergency declaration, our little fuzzy friends could be facing an early extinction if we’re not on the side to support them. If you’re keen to support these honey-making, pollinating buzzy insects - here’s what you can do to ensure that they stay part of our world for (hopefully) many years to come. And it might be easier than you think!
What can YOU do to support honey bees?
Buy local honey - not only are you supporting your local beekeepers directly, but the honey produced is much more beneficial for you (such as having natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties to name a few!) Buying local honey means that you are helping to fund beekeepers to keep their hives thriving, ensuring that bees will stick around a lot longer.
Make your garden a bee sanctuary - growing bee-friendly plants, from lavender to the abelia (commonly known as the ‘bee bush’) will ensure that bees will be able to pollinate effectively. But what if you don’t have space for your own small sanctuary? Relax! You can do things such as having a window planter or even having a small pot of lavender outside your front door which can make a huge difference.
Support research - the British Beekeepers Association select different scientific projects each year in order to benefit bees and beekeepers. Currently, research is being done to analyse pollen content in different honey samples (sweet, hey?) You can do this via donations to help fund it.
Buy bee products - we mentioned before about the benefits of bee’s honey, but their wax is also just as useful. Brands such as Burt’s Bees and Bee Good harness the goodness that the bees have made and put it into beauty products (it's a win-win for everyone!)
Join over 25,000 other bee lovers! - joining an association will not only teach you how to bee keep but will also give you an opportunity to learn more about them. You can learn about different species in your area or even take up beekeeping yourself to give bees a home all year round. Purchasing your own beehives can set you back a few hundred pounds, but joining an association means you can borrow kit whilst you’re starting out to see how you get on! Check out the British Beekeepers Association for more about joining them here (website URL).
Beekeeping is one activity which can either be seen as a hobby to some or as a full-time profession, with golden honey being a source of income. We spoke to avid beekeeper Mark Wilsher who has been in this buzzy business for over 40 years, who gave us an insight into the world of beekeeping and what process the bees go through every year.
Firstly, pollinating. Pollination is one thing that they’re probably the best at doing - if they had to add a title to their Bee LinkedIn profile, it would be “Pollinator at Queen Bee’s.” But obviously, these are bees, they don’t have access to mobile apps...we’ll move on.
The pollinators are the ones who go out and collect pollen from a variety of different flowers, crops and fruit trees which then, in turn, helps plants, crops and flowers reproduce and grow. Pollen also acts as the bees protein store, so when it comes to winter, they can use the pollen collected over the summer to use whilst there are no flowers out and about in the colder months.
“Did you know that the male bee, also known as a drone, is kicked out the hive during autumn? Meaning that the whole hive is run by women - girl power!”
What they also are keen collectors of is nectar. Nectar is a key ingredient for bees to create deliciously sticky honey in which we spread on toast, drizzle on pancakes or even use it as a part of your evening facial routine (it's a thing, we promise).
“The bees spend all summer collecting nectar, which they convert to honey as they go back to the hive,” says Mark, “they store it and that's their carbohydrate stores for the winter.” Without these stores with them over the colder periods, the bees are at danger of starvation - something which Mark is familiar with.
“I was too busy to take them off because there was virtually no food so they were hungry and the box was very light and I thought ‘quick let’s get some food in there’ and that’s me being a bad beekeeper and I should’ve seen them earlier.”
Thankfully, 3 gallons of syrup fed to them later, Mark’s bees survived and produced over 800lbs of honey during the course of the summer.
“One well-kept hive can expect to make anywhere between 30 to 60 pounds of honey in one season.”
But it isn’t always smooth sailing. With the recent changes in the environmental changes, life has started to be pretty tough for bees.
The hive needs to stay at a constant 35 degrees to help raise their young, which will help produce more honey and spread pollen to more plants (you get the gist). If the temperature rises or lowers, bees will begin to chow down on their winter stores which could potentially cause the whole hive to starve - something which should be avoided where possible. Not only can the temperature inside be an issue, but also the availability of flowers and plants can make life hard. Environmental changes have impacted the world around us which has made our plants hard to keep up with the weather differences.
“Honeybees are under attack from tiny predators called varroa mites which can either weaken or kill bees before they even hatch from their larvae. BUT treatments such as thymol are used which can knock back the mites by 90% - phew!”
Remember to respect our fuzzy friends, not just during the summer months when you can see them working hard, but throughout the whole year - they need us as much as we need them.
Behind the Hive
So who is who in the world of the honeybees? Find out more below:
Queen Bee:
Bees have always been a key part of the world, from the humble bumble to the honey bee they have always stuck around.
With the recent climate emergency declaration, our little fuzzy friends could be facing an early extinction if we’re not on the side to support them. If you’re keen to support these honey-making, pollinating buzzy insects - here’s what you can do to ensure that they stay part of our world for (hopefully) many years to come. And it might be easier than you think!
What can YOU do to support honey bees?
Buy local honey - not only are you supporting your local beekeepers directly, but the honey produced is much more beneficial for you (such as having natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties to name a few!) Buying local honey means that you are helping to fund beekeepers to keep their hives thriving, ensuring that bees will stick around a lot longer.
Make your garden a bee sanctuary - growing bee-friendly plants, from lavender to the abelia (commonly known as the ‘bee bush’) will ensure that bees will be able to pollinate effectively. But what if you don’t have space for your own small sanctuary? Relax! You can do things such as having a window planter or even having a small pot of lavender outside your front door which can make a huge difference.
Support research - the British Beekeepers Association select different scientific projects each year in order to benefit bees and beekeepers. Currently, research is being done to analyse pollen content in different honey samples (sweet, hey?) You can do this via donations to help fund it.
Buy bee products - we mentioned before about the benefits of bee’s honey, but their wax is also just as useful. Brands such as Burt’s Bees and Bee Good harness the goodness that the bees have made and put it into beauty products (it's a win-win for everyone!)
Join over 25,000 other bee lovers! - joining an association will not only teach you how to bee keep but will also give you an opportunity to learn more about them. You can learn about different species in your area or even take up beekeeping yourself to give bees a home all year round. Purchasing your own beehives can set you back a few hundred pounds, but joining an association means you can borrow kit whilst you’re starting out to see how you get on! Check out the British Beekeepers Association for more about joining them here (website URL).
Beekeeping is one activity which can either be seen as a hobby to some or as a full-time profession, with golden honey being a source of income. We spoke to avid beekeeper Mark Wilsher who has been in this buzzy business for over 40 years, who gave us an insight into the world of beekeeping and what process the bees go through every year.
Firstly, pollinating. Pollination is one thing that they’re probably the best at doing - if they had to add a title to their Bee LinkedIn profile, it would be “Pollinator at Queen Bee’s.” But obviously, these are bees, they don’t have access to mobile apps...we’ll move on.
The pollinators are the ones who go out and collect pollen from a variety of different flowers, crops and fruit trees which then, in turn, helps plants, crops and flowers reproduce and grow. Pollen also acts as the bees protein store, so when it comes to winter, they can use the pollen collected over the summer to use whilst there are no flowers out and about in the colder months.
“Did you know that the male bee, also known as a drone, is kicked out the hive during autumn? Meaning that the whole hive is run by women - girl power!”
What they also are keen collectors of is nectar. Nectar is a key ingredient for bees to create deliciously sticky honey in which we spread on toast, drizzle on pancakes or even use it as a part of your evening facial routine (it's a thing, we promise).
“The bees spend all summer collecting nectar, which they convert to honey as they go back to the hive,” says Mark, “they store it and that's their carbohydrate stores for the winter.” Without these stores with them over the colder periods, the bees are at danger of starvation - something which Mark is familiar with.
“I was too busy to take them off because there was virtually no food so they were hungry and the box was very light and I thought ‘quick let’s get some food in there’ and that’s me being a bad beekeeper and I should’ve seen them earlier.”
Thankfully, 3 gallons of syrup fed to them later, Mark’s bees survived and produced over 800lbs of honey during the course of the summer.
“One well-kept hive can expect to make anywhere between 30 to 60 pounds of honey in one season.”
But it isn’t always smooth sailing. With the recent changes in the environmental changes, life has started to be pretty tough for bees.
The hive needs to stay at a constant 35 degrees to help raise their young, which will help produce more honey and spread pollen to more plants (you get the gist). If the temperature rises or lowers, bees will begin to chow down on their winter stores which could potentially cause the whole hive to starve - something which should be avoided where possible. Not only can the temperature inside be an issue, but also the availability of flowers and plants can make life hard. Environmental changes have impacted the world around us which has made our plants hard to keep up with the weather differences.
“Honeybees are under attack from tiny predators called varroa mites which can either weaken or kill bees before they even hatch from their larvae. BUT treatments such as thymol are used which can knock back the mites by 90% - phew!”
Remember to respect our fuzzy friends, not just during the summer months when you can see them working hard, but throughout the whole year - they need us as much as we need them.
Behind the Hive
So who is who in the world of the honeybees? Find out more below:
Queen Bee:
- Lifespan of up to 7 years
- Has an exclusive diet of royal jelly produced by her workers
- Lays all the eggs in the hive
- Predominantly female but cannot reproduce
- Collect all the pollen and nectar
- Housekeeps inside the hive: from collecting pollen to creating wax
- Eat far too much - for no reason
- Mates with an unfertilised queen (which kind of defeats the object of reproduction…)
- Help cool down the hive should it get too hot
