one-day course beekeeping

venue: Hackney City Farm, London

Beekeeping is a wonderfully rewarding activity and it has an essential role in supporting wildlife and agricultural production. Even in the city you can plant fruit bushes or small crops and see them pollinated by bees, or keep bees yourself, if you have a garden and a good relationship with the neighbours. Bees in the city have an easier life than out in the countryside, as there are slightly higher temperatures, an extended flowering season, fewer pesticides and a larger variety of plants and sources of nectar.
This one-day introductory course is designed to give a general understanding of the role of bees in supporting wildlife and agricultural production and a taster of what it would be like to look after bees. In one day it can only offer a range of topics for consideration, together with the chance to have a practical session working on the Farm’s hives with the Farm’s experienced beekeeper.
Some of the basic topics covered will include:

• the importance of beekeeping
• bees and honey-bees; the life cycle of queens, workers, drones, and their division of labour
• inside a modern hive
• pollination, nectar and honey
• wax, propolis and royal jelly
• the life cycle of a hive
• swarming and swarm control
• diseases and hive management
  

more on beekeeping

a smoker keeps the bees sedate while inspecting the hive

London honey on display at the Honey show
photo: Simon Wilkes

bees on a frame with brood, honey and pollen