Keeping honeybees

For the past three years I have kept a couple of hives of bees. I have two types of hive: a ‘top bar’ and a ‘national’. The top bar hive is amazingly simple and consists of a wooden trough with a removable lid and a series of bars – little more than short lengths of batten – from which the bees build their honeycombs. The hives are located at the end of the orchard, facing south to get as much sun as possible and sheltered by a tall hedge from northerly and westerly winds. Days go by when I barely acknowledge their existence and they don’t trouble me in any way. However, the knowledge that the bees are there, beavering away, is enriching and useful, because as well as helping the UK’s declining bee population, we are also able to harvest some of their honey. We do this in late spring and midsummer, leaving plenty for them to eat over winter, although on mild days they are busily out and about. Once a year they swarm and the hive divides up following the old queen. A ball of as many as 20,000 bees wraps around her – and for the past couple of years has lodged in one of our apple trees. One year we captured it and took it to a new home, but this year it took itself away. A new queen is left with the remaining workers and the hive quickly builds back up to a sustainable population of about 50,000 bees. I am guided in my beekeeping by the benign presence of Gareth, my expert from Monmouth, and his watchword is to be calm at all times and to do as little as is necessary. By and large they can be left well alone, the beekeeping gardener enjoying the mutual benefits rather than acting as busy custodian. Find out more about keeping bees from your local beekeeping association at bbka.org.uk