We are looking for bee-friendly sites to keep additional beehives
Through the Winter, the majority of our work has been tree surgery but, as Spring rapidly approaches we are expecting the swarming season to get underway before we know it and that brings with it lots of colony removals and more hives full of bees. As we remove honeybee colonies from peoples homes through the season, the overall numbers of hives that we have in use grows and we are always keen to hear from landowners who would like to offer a small area to host some beehives.
Our process is that we remove a honeybee colony from inconvenient/problematic places (chimneys, roofs, etc) and place the colony and their honeycomb into a hive. We put that hive into our quarantine apiary for a period of time to treat any problems that they may have, to give them time to tidy up any honeycomb damage that has taken place during the removal and to generally get themselves in order. Once we know that they are all set to go, we move them out into one of our apiaries (‘Apiary’ is the name for any place where beehives are kept) and let them get re-orientated.
Looking after bees is important as many animals and plants (humans included) simply would not be here without them as many plants, including many of the foods that we rely on, just wouldn’t grow.
Having honeybees present in an area encourages improved pollination for very many flowers and fruits. If you have an orchard or grow other produce, having a good supply of bees nearby can make a big difference.
We are looking for fairly small areas (5M x 2M minimum) where we can place hive stands and then hives, usually in groups of three or six. Most of our hives are in field corners where they do not really impede machinery etc and are out of the way of any conflict with people. We require quite regular access in the summer (usually about once a week) and so spaces such as fields or woodlands are usually favourable to gardens.
The requirements for a good apiary site are:
- Vehicular access nearby (within about 100 metres)
- Not too visible/obvious from roads/footpaths (beehives, as well as their contents, are valuable and can be subject to theft from time to time) and ideally with a lockable gate
- A spot that gets sun fairly early in the morning (if you can stand with your back to a hedge and look south east at the morning sun, this is a good spot)
- Not too exposed to strong winds
If you think that you have a site that might be of interest, please get in touch through our contact form or by email to [email protected] – we would be delighted to hear from you.
We are ideally looking in the area between Camborne, Helston, Penzance and Hayle but can go further afield for just the right spot!
