The Bee’s Knees – A look at Harrow’s beekeeping community
We were lucky enough to spend some time with Harrow’s thriving beekeeping community to and see what all the buzz was about.
The Harrow Beekeeper’s Association (HBKA) is a registered charity which formed in 1919 and are based in an Apiary in Hatch End, Pinner. The association has over 120 members and continues to grow.
To find out more, we caught up with Bill Fitzmaurice, one of the Hatch End Apiary manager’s. We wanted to know more about the bees and what life as a beekeeper is like.
There are over 250 species of Bee in the UK (thousands worldwide), however the three that we most commonly encounter is the honeybee, the bumblebee and solitary bees such as mason bees and ivy bees.
The honey bee is a native insect on the British isles, and they are under threat because of parasites and the colonies that continue to thrive are the ones that are managed by beekeepers. So if there were no bee keepers there would be no honey bees.
We have seen a decline in the number of bees across the planet, this is due to changes in agriculture, hedges are removed to form bigger fields and more and more pesticides are being used.
Why are bees so important?
“Bees are highly effective pollinators so make an enormous contribution to the whole ecosystem and to food production worldwide.” Bill said.
Just one worker honeybee can pollinate 1500 flowers in a single day and one solitary bee can pollinate equivalent of 100 honey bees!
What do you hope to see for the Beekeepers and where would you like it to go?
“Bee keeping is incredibly hard work, it’s labour intensive, but very rewarding and can be a lot of fun. I’d like people to be aware of cheap honey, often a blend of honey from numerous countries, not to mention counterfeit/adulterated honey! It’s important to support your local beekeeper so you know where your honey comes from!” he explained. “Harrow Beekeepers’ Association works very hard to maintain the craft of beekeeping within our urban Harrow environment”
The Harrow Beekeepers pride themselves on having a highly diverse community of beekeepers. Meeting most Sundays, over recent years there have been members joining from India and Afghanistan, the Middle East and several Eastern European countries. They even have some junior members.
Meet Emma Dalton, now 15, she started beekeeping at just age 11 and has become a natural hand at it. She explained, “I was very interested in bees, and it was during the lockdown I asked my parents if I could do beekeeping. They said no at first, but then at Christmas I was given the beginners course as my present. Some of the courses were online (during the Covid precautions) which was ok, but when you go out to a hive, it’s completely different to how I thought it would be.
“Harrow Beekeepers were so helpful and I had a mentor called Jo, who just gave me so much support and advice. Sometimes I do the inspections on my own, but often I do them with my mum or if someone else is around, even though I’m confident, I just like the company. My school and friends also like my hobby, I think if anyone wants to do beekeeping, they really should just do it.”
The HKBA hold education sessions each month (for the benefit of members of the association) led by the Education Secretary, Eileen Samuroff. These sessions are free to attend and cover many aspects of beekeeping.
For example bee biology, preparing for winter and disease control. The sessions(are for members only) are free to attend and promote the education and knowledge of bee keeping.
The charity are also very engaged with local schools, cubs and scouts groups and will sometimes hold an open day event for people to have a taster (if volunteers to be able to do so).
It’s not just honey!
Beekeepers also harvest bees wax from the hives which has many uses. Bees wax can be used to make candles, lip balm, soap, furniture polish and food wraps. It is also used to lubricate ropes and wood and weathproof fabrics. Let’s not forget the medicinal benefits of honey, it serves as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial agent. Local honey has medicinal properties and (is said to be great) for hayfever.
Swarming
When and Why do Bees Swarm?
Swarming is a natural process, where the old queen leaves the hive with about half the bees. This is generally due to colonies building up quickly in the Spring and becoming overcrowded, leaving a new, young queen in charge of the hive. It’s their way of reproducing, and hopefully, the new queen will successfully take over the hive.
Swarms can look and sound scary, but the bees are focused on where they want to go and generally settle in a tree or branch not far from where they issued from the hive.
If you see a honeybee swarm, please contact our Swarm Coordinator, Caroline Geheran, or one of the swarm team via the HKBA Web site.
Its also important to understand the difference between a Bee swarm and a wasps nest.
A Bee swarm will appear like a cluster and you be able to see the bees…
Where as a wasps nest will appear like a cocoon/meringue-like material and will need a pest control team to manage, not a bee keeper.
If you are interested in becoming a bee keeper (undertaking a beekeeping course is recommended before keeping bees and having a place to keep your bees), the HKBA run their beginner course every spring. Spaces are limited, details can be found on their website and check out their Facebook page to keep up to date.
