Give It A Go! up over the summer. In late August they can become quite defensive and this is not good for people and pets.” If you don't have land available, it's a case of looking for a partnership arrangement where the presence of bees is mutually beneficial. For example, allotment associations often welcome beekeepers as this ensures pollination and healthy crops. Torbay Beekeepers can help with sourcing such arrangements but are always glad to hear from farmers and landowners who have sites they think would work. Managing a hive involves a variety of duties, usually accomplished with a weekly visit, and includes checking there is enough food and water available, maintaining the structure of the hive, looking for signs of ill health and signs that swarming is imminent. As for the fruits of labour, there are many. The average hive requires 40 lbs of honey to sustain itself, which leaves between 15 and 25 lbs for the beekeeper. Liz shows me a wide variety of products that she makes. Along with honey and other preserves there are candles, beeswax furniture polish, soaps, lip balm and skin cream. The latter are made from propolis, a naturally occurring sticky substance collected by bees from trees used to both seal gaps in the hive and to prevent fungal and bacterial growth. An important date in the beekeepers’ year is the annual Honey Show where members enter exhibits in all manner of categories. Torbay Beekeepers also regularly exhibits at the Devon County Show in the Bee & Honey classes that have over 40 award categories from honey, beeswax and mead to poetry and photography. Torbay Beekeepers offers a warm welcome to new members and anyone wishing to find out more about this fascinating subject. o tbbk.co.uk
Meet The Occombe Bees 31 May, 28 July, 11 August Occombe’s Bee Keeper Gerry Stuart will bring along some bees in an observation hive so you can safely view them up close, learn how much honey a bee can produce, how far they can travel and what a waggle dance is! Gerry is Vice Chairman of Devon Beekeepers Association’s Torbay Branch and manages the Cockington apiary. He’s also beekeeper for Occombe Farm & Paignton Zoo, a director of the B4 project as well as being designated Swarm Collector for Torbay and South Devon. Meet: Occombe Farm, time: 1pm – 3pm, cost: £2.50 per person (12 years and over), booking: essential Website: countryside-trust.org.uk
Get Involved During the summer meetings and impromptu teach-ins are held at the apiary at Cockington (adjacent to the Drum Inn), alternate Saturdays from June 4 at 2.30pm. All welcome. During the winter, every second Tuesday at the Gerston Christian centre, Paignton at 7.30pm. An 8 week ‘Introduction To Beekeeping’ course is run each winter - see tbbk.co.uk for details or call 01803 663308 for more information. englishrivieramagazine.co.uk
June/July 2016
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