beecon of hope

With a buzz of conversation surrounding dwindling bee populations, this month flavour discovers a local group determined to do their bit...

It would be somewhat of an understatement to say that bees are extremely important to the pollination of UK crops. In the UK alone there are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000 hives working out at one hive per square kilometre. A hive may contain up to 50,000 bees and individual bees may visit up to 100 flowers on each trip out from the hive. The value of honey bees’ services as pollinators in the European Union has been estimated at around £3 billion per year.

Bumblebees are very important in the UK, as they fly around at lower temperatures and in worse weather than honeybees. In addition, bumblebees are best able to pollinate some wild flowers, such as foxgloves. Natural populations of bumblebees are in decline in the UK and across the EU. Solitary bees are bees that live on their own, rather than in hives or nests. There are several hundred species across Europe, but very little is known about them apart from the fact that, like bumblebees, they are in decline.

The decline of bumblebees and solitary bee populations has been linked to modern intensive farming. The widespread use of herbicides and the increased intensity of farming has removed the habitats that wild bees make nests in, and reduced the numbers of wild plants, which they use for food. There is concern that the introduction of GM herbicide tolerant crops, such as oilseed rape, will further reduce the diversity and number of wild plants found in UK farmland.

Yet according to President of Bath Beekeeper’s Association Bob Needs, all is not lost: “Our membership is currently increasing at a rate of about 15% a year – people are more aware than ever of the threat that bees have come under and they want to help.”

Bob has been the leading force in a new project that’s underway thanks to the recent donation of a lottery grant. After 18 months of negotiations, a brand new teaching apiary (pictured bottom left) is being installed in Bath Spa University campus, with a view to Environmental Studies students also being able to make use of the facilities.

“Our growing numbers meant that we’d outgrown our relatively basic setup in Bathampton”, Bob explains, “With the prospect of a new grant on the horizon, I really wanted us to aim for a state-of-theart facility, which would be safe for the public to attend, suitable for winter meetings, study groups and even equipped for us to hold exams for the British Beekeeper’s Association.”

Being entirely constructed by members in their own time - who between them possess all the necessary skills for a selfbuild – the project has been something of a collaborative effort. “We’ve got a structural and civil engineer, a builder who specialises in carpentry, those who can lay flooring, fit blinds and kitchen units; we’ve even had one of our members offer us a grain barn to construct it in!”

The apiary will officially open its doors in September and will offer wheelchair access, as well as a sterile honey extraction room and an impressive viewing gallery that will overlook the twelve hives in front of the building. “It’s reputed that if honeybees die out, we won’t be far behind,” says Bob, “Once people start learning about bees, they always want to know more, and more and more. It’s an enthralling hobbie that you can enjoy at any level, and our growing numbers seem to be living proof of that”.

To find out more about Bath Beekeepers upcoming events please visit www.abka.org.uk