bees:beekeeping

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bees:beekeeping [2025/12/05 13:00] – [Further resources] Dave Darbybees:beekeeping [2026/03/26 18:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-# Beekeeping+This topic is part of [[gt:gardening|Gardening, smallholding & farming]]. 
 +====== Beekeeping ======
  
  
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-## What is beekeeping?+===== What is beekeeping? =====
  
 Beekeeping the art and craft of looking after the honey bee, _Apis mellifera_. Honey bees are highly social insects, living in extremely well-organised groups; each member has a specific job to do, and no bee can survive without the colony. Beekeepers provide hives for colonies of bees to live in. Beekeeping the art and craft of looking after the honey bee, _Apis mellifera_. Honey bees are highly social insects, living in extremely well-organised groups; each member has a specific job to do, and no bee can survive without the colony. Beekeepers provide hives for colonies of bees to live in.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Bees on natural comb. +_Bees on natural comb._
 </caption> </caption>
  
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-### History+==== History ====
  
 Pre-beekeeping, wild bees made their homes mainly in hollow trees, and early humans would steal their honey when they found it. In nature, bees build comb from the top of the tree cavity, downwards, with a curve at the bottom. They build different-sized cells for different kinds of bees (c. 15% drones), with larger queen cells hanging from the bottom of the comb. Beekeeping began when humans provided homes for the bees, and took some or all of their honey every now and then. Pre-beekeeping, wild bees made their homes mainly in hollow trees, and early humans would steal their honey when they found it. In nature, bees build comb from the top of the tree cavity, downwards, with a curve at the bottom. They build different-sized cells for different kinds of bees (c. 15% drones), with larger queen cells hanging from the bottom of the comb. Beekeeping began when humans provided homes for the bees, and took some or all of their honey every now and then.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Conventional hives.+_Conventional hives._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-### Bees in decline+==== Bees in decline ====
  
 Bee numbers haven't been monitored everywhere, but where they have, it doesn't look good. See [here](http://www.agriland.leeds.ac.uk/about/Evidence.php) and [here](http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:32251) for information / research on what's happening to bee populations, and [here](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/Bees-in-Decline.pdf) for an overview from Greenpeace. To summarise, the US has lost 30% of commercial honey bee colonies since 2006. In central Europe the figure is 25% since 1985, and in the UK 54% since 1985. Added to this, there has been an almost total die-off of feral colonies in the US and in some parts of Europe. Bee numbers haven't been monitored everywhere, but where they have, it doesn't look good. See [here](http://www.agriland.leeds.ac.uk/about/Evidence.php) and [here](http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:32251) for information / research on what's happening to bee populations, and [here](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/Bees-in-Decline.pdf) for an overview from Greenpeace. To summarise, the US has lost 30% of commercial honey bee colonies since 2006. In central Europe the figure is 25% since 1985, and in the UK 54% since 1985. Added to this, there has been an almost total die-off of feral colonies in the US and in some parts of Europe.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Workers, drone and queen.+_Workers, drone and queen._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-### Different approaches to beekeeping+==== Different approaches to beekeeping ====
  
 There is a spectrum of approaches to beekeeping, one end of which could be labelled 'natural' (represented by the [Natural Beekeeping Trust](http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/)) and the other end 'conventional' (represented by the [British Beekeepers Association](http://www.bbka.org.uk/)). Towards the end of the 20th century, when bee decline was recognised, groups of beekeepers began to be critical of practices that forced bees to live differently than they would if left alone. Their position was that artificial practices put the bees under stress at a time when they were faced with a massive increase in the use of pesticides and a similar decrease in numbers of native wild forage plants. There is a spectrum of approaches to beekeeping, one end of which could be labelled 'natural' (represented by the [Natural Beekeeping Trust](http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/)) and the other end 'conventional' (represented by the [British Beekeepers Association](http://www.bbka.org.uk/)). Towards the end of the 20th century, when bee decline was recognised, groups of beekeepers began to be critical of practices that forced bees to live differently than they would if left alone. Their position was that artificial practices put the bees under stress at a time when they were faced with a massive increase in the use of pesticides and a similar decrease in numbers of native wild forage plants.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Swarm hanging from a branch.+_Swarm hanging from a branch._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 <caption> <caption>
-Natural hives, from the top: skep, decorated Warré, horizontal top bar, sun hive.+_Natural hives, from the top: skep, decorated Warré, horizontal top bar, sun hive._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 <caption> <caption>
-Natural comb in a top bar hive, showing the curved bottom edge.+_Natural comb in a top bar hive, showing the curved bottom edge._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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-## What are the benefits of beekeeping?+===== What are the benefits of beekeeping? =====
  
 - Beekeeping brings together people interested in improving agriculture & local economies, gardening, education, food and cooking, ancient craft skills and science. - Beekeeping brings together people interested in improving agriculture & local economies, gardening, education, food and cooking, ancient craft skills and science.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Varroa mite - not this big in real life, luckily.+_Varroa mite - not this big in real life, luckily._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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-## What can I do?+===== What can I do? =====
  
 First, work out where you are on the natural / conventional spectrum. This is our position: First, work out where you are on the natural / conventional spectrum. This is our position:
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 <caption> <caption>
-Winter hives full of hibernating bees.+_Winter hives full of hibernating bees._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 But maybe it's all part of the same package. Maybe beekeepers who would use insecticides on their bees also believe the myth that we need intensive, chemical agriculture to feed the world's population. In the end though, surely we can talk about how we maximise bee health? And maybe we can agree that honey production purely for commercial reasons is wrong? We think that, ultimately, any activity should be up for discussion if evidence shows that it damages bees. The hope is that new entrants into beekeeping may choose a more bee-friendly approach, and that existing beekeepers may move in that direction to some extent. But maybe it's all part of the same package. Maybe beekeepers who would use insecticides on their bees also believe the myth that we need intensive, chemical agriculture to feed the world's population. In the end though, surely we can talk about how we maximise bee health? And maybe we can agree that honey production purely for commercial reasons is wrong? We think that, ultimately, any activity should be up for discussion if evidence shows that it damages bees. The hope is that new entrants into beekeeping may choose a more bee-friendly approach, and that existing beekeepers may move in that direction to some extent.
  
-### Getting started+==== Getting started ====
  
 If you do take the step into beekeeping, you'll be entering an entrancing world - from the different types of honey, bee behaviour, the part that bees play in ecology, bees in history and the super-organism that is a bee colony, to how you can tell which flowers a bee has visited by the [colour of the pollen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source) in the bags on its knees. If you do take the step into beekeeping, you'll be entering an entrancing world - from the different types of honey, bee behaviour, the part that bees play in ecology, bees in history and the super-organism that is a bee colony, to how you can tell which flowers a bee has visited by the [colour of the pollen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source) in the bags on its knees.
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 <caption> <caption>
-Honeybee with pollen sac on its hind 'knee'.+_Honeybee with pollen sac on its hind 'knee'._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 <caption> <caption>
-At honey shows you can see the range of honeys that bees can produce from different plants.+_At honey shows you can see the range of honeys that bees can produce from different plants._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 Finally, there's a new hive around called the flow hive - it has a tap from which you extract honey without opening the hive. It has [elicited strong reactions](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/posts/flow-hive-honey-tap-set-to-revolutionise-beekeeping-worldwide-whats-wrong-with-that). Finally, there's a new hive around called the flow hive - it has a tap from which you extract honey without opening the hive. It has [elicited strong reactions](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/posts/flow-hive-honey-tap-set-to-revolutionise-beekeeping-worldwide-whats-wrong-with-that).
 +===== Forum =====
  
 +This topic belongs to the section [[gt:gardening|Gardening, smallholding & farming]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/gardening).
  
-## Further resources+===== Further resources =====
  
 - [Natural Beekeeping Trust](http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/) - [Natural Beekeeping Trust](http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/)
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 - [International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations](https://www.apimondia.org/) - [International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations](https://www.apimondia.org/)
 - [Friends of the Bees](https://www.friendsofthebees.org/) - [Friends of the Bees](https://www.friendsofthebees.org/)
 +- [Backyard Beekeeping](https://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/citybees.htm) - keeping bees in urban areas
 +- [BIBBA (Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association)](https://bibba.com/) - for the conservation, restoration, study, selection and improvement of the native honey bee of the UK & Ireland
 +
 +===== Related topics =====
 +
 +- [Candlemaking](cndl:candlemaking)
 +- [Smallholding](smho:smallholding)
 +- [Fruit trees & orchards](frui:fruit_trees)
 +- [Wildlife gardening](wiga:wildlife_gardening)
  
  
-## Specialists+===== Specialist curators of this topic =====
  
 +{{tag>[animals, land]}}
  
  
  • bees/beekeeping.1764939635.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2025/12/05 13:00
  • by Dave Darby