On 2009-08-05 20:55:41 +0100, "Christina Websell"
said:


"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
A report on radio4 this morning, asking people to keep a bee colony
in their
gardens and even on a balcony (for example) for city dwellers. How
practical is this?


IME, not very.
My German friend keeps bees and when I went over to visit her they
seemed an awful lot of trouble to look after. I saw an article in
the newpaper today too, which suggests they take one hour a week to
look after. Hah! Averaged over the year when they are dormant in
the winter perhaps! All that examining the combs to destroy queen
cells so they don't swarm, setting your smoker going to calm them
down, dressing up from head to foot. All that equipment needed to
spin the honey out, get the wax, treat them for varroa mite..etc.
No. I don't think it's very practical, having seen bee-keeping first
hand. It seems to be a very specialist subject.
It's not like you can get a hive, put it on your high rise balcony
and then ignore it, having done your bit for pollination and in some
ways that's what the article suggested - get bees - do good. No
mention of how high maintenance they actually are.
I think it's an irresponsible suggestion, but maybe that's just me.

Yes, I think perhaps one needs to be very experienced to keep honey bees.
As Phil said, it would better to learn from another beekeeper for a couple
of years before one gets one own hive.

I am very interested in Sacha's comment, about having a 'hive' for bumble
bees. Have you heard anything about those?

Yes. They are easy to make, have a look on the web. I've made several and
they've all been taken up.
I've also drilled a log with holes for solitary bees and some of holes are
blocked up with clay, so I guess a few solitary bees found it a good place
to lay their eggs.

The photo in Country Life looks a bit like that. Someone seems to have
taken a block of wood and just drilled holes in it, so I don't think
anything deeply sophisticated is needed. Weatherproof and out of full
sun is required but otherwise they pretty much get on with it.
Certainly I would never suggest keeping honey bees on a balcony. They
need a good foraging range and a clear flight path. Up and over a
balcony or even through bars or mesh (which would be like letting long
grass grow in front of the alighting board) would be highly
undesirable.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon