My first visit to an English beekeeper

November 18, 2012 by afrenchgarden 29 Comments

I have just returned from the U.K. where I was helping my daughter move house. Not only are they lucky to have found a lovely house but are surrounded by extremely friendly and helpful neighbours. The nearby neighbours all came over to welcome the newcomers and have a chat. It was during one of the conversations that my daughter discovered she was living opposite a beekeeper and mentioned that I was very interested in bees.

I was delighted to be invited to visit his hive!

Looking towards the back of the garden

Even in the early evening of November in England David’s garden looked beautiful and I immediately saw the beehive nestling at the back of the garden.

I believe this is a National Frame hive and David let me have a quick peek inside.

The frames revealed

The bees were not too happy about this impromptu viewing and raised their tails to signal their disgust at being disturbed.

And there’s more!

I had assumed David had recently taken up beekeeping as I had read it is becoming a very popular hobby in the U.K. and that I would be seeing the one hive. Not so. Hidden off to the side were more hives.

David is a confirmed beekeeper, when I asked how long he had been keeping bees, he replied that he had been keeping bees really all his life. His interest had first been sparked when taking a badge at Boy Scouts! His step-father had bought him a hive and together they began what turned out to be a life long interest in bee keeping. One that he in turn has passed on to his son.

In fact, he made me laugh when he explained that when he was looking for this house that it was its suitability for keeping bees that was at the head of the list of his requirements that he had given to the estate agent.

Top Bar Hive

I had never seen a Top Bar Hive and the different shape of the top bars that lead to a V-shaped comb formation. David mentioned he was interested in Malawi and after a quick internet search since I’ve returned home I noticed that the Top bar Hives are used there. Something more for me to ask him about when I go back to the UK at Christmas.

Treating the hives

David was quick to warn me that beekeeping was not just about watching the bees, that there was a lot of work to maintaining healthy hives and recovering the honey.

WBC hive

Not all the hives were occupied. The white WBC hive belongs to David’s, son who is not using it at the moment, and is storing it in the garden.

Tempting residence for a swarm

The last hive I saw was empty but waiting for perhaps the arrival of a swarm in the spring, who knows?

Another facet of beekeeping

Sometimes I forget about the result of keeping bees. I am so fascinated by their life cycle and the struggle to maintain a healthy colony in the face of so many challenges that the reward in the form of honey slips to the back of my mind. Even after my visits to two beekeepers and smelling that wonderful aroma from the combs, it all seems too detached that this wonderful liquid should end up in a bottle on the supermarket shelf.

David does not sell his honey but his friends and family benefit from his expertise so I was delighted to be given a jar of his heather honey, something I do not find in the Charente region. Delicious!

David encouraged me to keep on studying the bees and sent me off with some copies of “BeeCraft” – the official journal of the British Beekeepers Association-tucked under my arm.

Perhaps when I get the garden more under control I could think of putting a hive at the bottom of the garden under the trees but it will not be this spring – there is still too much to do.

Author: afrenchgarden

Born in Scotland I have lived in England, Iran, USA and Greece. The house and land was bought twelve years ago in fulfilment of the dream of living in France that my Francophile husband nurtured. We had spent frequent holidays in France touring the more northerly parts and enjoying the food, scenery, architecture and of course gardens. However, we felt that to retire in France and enjoy a more clement climate than we currently had in Aberdeen we would need to find somewhere south of the river Loire but not too south to make returning to visit the UK onerous. The year 2000 saw us buying our house and setting it up to receive us and the family on holidays. The garden was more a field and we were helped by my son to remove the fencing that had separated the previous owners’ goats, sheep and chickens. We did inherit some lovely old trees and decided to plant more fruit trees that would survive and mature with the minimum of care until we took up permanent residence. The move took place in 2006 and the love hate relation with the “garden” started. There was so much to do in the house that there was little energy left for the hard tasks in the garden. It was very much a slow process and a steep learning curve. Expenditures have been kept to a minimum. The majority of the plants have been cuttings and I try to gather seeds wherever I can. The fruit trees have all been bought but we have tender hearts and cannot resist the little unloved shrub at a discount price and take it as a matter of honour to nurse it back to health. This year I have launched my Blog hoping to reach out to other gardeners in other countries. My aim is to make a garden for people to enjoy, providing shady and sunny spots with plants that enjoy living in this area with its limestone based subsoil and low rainfall in a warm summer. Exchanging ideas and exploring mutual problems will enrich my experience trying to form my French garden.