This week I went to the second London Honey Show at the Lancaster London Hotel, which followed the success of the first show in 2011. The London Honey Show is a celebration of the capital’s urban beekeeping culture with talks, bee-and-honey stalls, competitions and prizes. The show drew crowds of people from those who keep bees to those who are simply interested in bees and honey.
Karin Courtman, London Beekeepers Association (LBKA), gave a talk on ‘Stories from an urban beekeeper’, which was particularly pertinent given reports hitting the news again that London bee numbers ‘could be too high’. This is not news for beekeepers who have kept hives in the capital for many years and who have noticed a steady fall in honey yields. A healthy hive would normally produce 40lb of honey, but in 2011 the average was 20lb per hive and in 2012 just 9lb per hive.
‘There has been an explosion in urban beekeeping in recent years,’ said Karin. ‘The government figures on BeeBase show an increase in registered hives in the city from 1,617 in 2008 to 3,337 in 2012. However, Fera [The Food and Environment Research Agency] estimate that only 25% of beekeepers register their hives so numbers could be much higher.’
A single, healthy bee colony is home to around 50,000 bees during spring and summer, so if there are 3,337 hives and counting then that’s a lot of hungry honeybees in the city; add to that the numbers of other bees species like bumble bees and solitary bees, and other insect pollinators like butterflies that also live in London. Karin’s talk took a look at the maths: just one hive needs 120kg of nectar and about 30–50kg of pollen to sustain the colony throughout the season. That’s a lot of nectar and pollen, ‘Planting one or two lavender plants in your garden isn’t nearly enough!’
So is the question ‘Does London have too many bees?’ or ‘Are there enough flowers in London?’. Karin thinks, ‘We need to be looking at nectar and pollen across London in a much more joined-up way and thinking about food sources for other bees and butterflies too.’
Habitat loss is a major cause of insect pollinator decline throughout the UK. Are there enough bee-friendly plants in London to sustain pollinators like this bumble bee seen foraging on echinacea?
The good news is that by planting more bee-friendly trees and flowers in London’s parks and gardens will not only improve life for insect pollinators but improve life for humans too. ‘Kids love to visit wildflower meadows and see not just flowers but hundreds of bees and butterflies.’
LBKA is starting a survey with beekeeping partners in north London to gather evidence on honey yields. Karin reminded us that everyone can help bees, not just beekeepers, by spreading the word, joining the communities and discussions online, and by planting lots more bee-friendly trees and flowers.
I have lived in London all my life and it is easy to see how spaces around the city could be improved for wildlife. Councils need to be encouraged to buy plants that are not just beautiful for people to look at but useful for insects too. I would like to think that this news will spur on a similar explosion in insect-friendly gardening.
On that theme, Frank Minns, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), gave a relevant talk on ‘Bee-friendly planting’ and how to plant trees and flowers for bees all year round. The RHS provides a list of plants for bees but Frank gave some interesting tips on types of gardening that bees love. ‘They go for “cold” planting as opposed to “hot” planting,’ he said. ‘Think of blues and whites, “cold-coloured” plants, which bees prefer to reds and oranges, “hot-coloured” plants.’ The traditional Mediterranean herbs are well-known favourite of bees and they are fond of daisies and echinaceas. These are all plants that are good to keep in the garden for culinary use too.
Bees love myrtle and the flowers provide a valuable source of forage in late summer and autumn. This pretty myrtle lives in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, but it can be planted as a border or hedging plant in parks and gardens.
I was pleased to hear Frank expound the virtues of myrtle (Myrtus communis) as an alternative evergreen border plant to privet. Myrtle is one of my favourite plants with pretty white flowers, dark berries and rich green leaves. It yields a beautiful essential oil.
James Dearsley, the Surrey Beekeeper and founder of The Beginner Beekeeper’s Page on Facebook, gave a good overview of bees and beekeeping from the plight of the honeybee and unprecedented hives losses in the US and UK in recent years, to the enjoyment of a wonderful hobby in which you never stop learning. ‘The waggle dance is a figure of eight motion performed by the bees to tell other bees what direction to fly to reach good sources of food. It is accurate to within one foot over three miles, despite the Earth moving slightly in the time that it takes for the bee to fly from the flower and back to the hive. That’s pretty accurate!’ There were also a few controversial facts like ‘male bees do all the work’, which, of course, we all know isn’t true!
James’s talk reminded us that beekeeping is a lot of fun – you get to do cool stuff like feeding this bee sugar syrup on my thumb!
James concluded with five useful tips on how to get started in beekeeping:
- Go on a taster day and see if you enjoy it
- Join your local beekeeping association and find a mentor
- Attend a course held by your beekeeping assocation
- Read and read and read!
- Have fun!
The talk was well-received by the audience. A lady from the US told me it had made her think about keeping bees in her garden. In her part of the world, black bears can be a problem to gardeners, but James’s talk had encouraged her to get in touch with her local beekeeping community to see how they tackle this challenge!
After the talks there were displays and stalls to visit and the Honey Ceremony to close the evening. A prize was given to Sharon Bassey, from LBKA, as this year’s winner of ‘Beekeeper of the Year’ for her work with children and beekeeping. James Dearsley presented the award and also made the generous gesture of auctioning a book on behalf of Bees for Development, a fantastic charity that supports beekeeping in Africa.
A display of different types of hives at the London Honey Show from old-fashioned woven skeps to WBCs and top-bar hives.
A huge thanks to Jo Hemesley and the beekeepers at the London Lancaster rooftop hives for running another great honey show to celebrate urban bees!
Related links
BBC news: London bee numbers ‘could be too high’
This is not new news:
The Lost British Summer, Emily Heath, Adventures in Beeland, writes a thoughtful post on whether there are too many hives in the city.
Are There Too Many Bees In London?, Deborah DeLong, Romancing the Bee, asks the question following a tough year for bees in the UK.
James Dearsley’s write-up of the second London Honey show: Was the London Honey Show as good as last year?
Why not also visit:
The London Beekeepers Association
Royal Horticultural Society
Bees for Development
The National Honey Show runs from 25–27 October 2012
Surrey Beekeeper for all your beekeeping needs
The Buzz around Lancaster Gate
Register your hive on BeeBase – the website provides a wide range of free information for beekeepers, to help keep your honeybees healthy and productive.
Plant bee-friendly plants in your garden:
RHS plants for bees
A plant study of myrtle
Follow bees on Twitter and Facebook
@Lancasterbees Jo Hemesley, beekeeper at the London Lancaster
@LondonBeeKeeper The London Beekeepers Association
@britishbee The British Beekeepers Association
@BeeCraftMag Britain’s bestselling beekeeping magazine
@beesfordev Bees for Development
@IBRA_Bee International Bee Research Association
@The_RHS Royal Horticultural Society
@surreybeekeeper James Dearsley, the Surrey Beekeeper, founder of The Beginner Beekeeper’s Page on Facebook and author of From A to Bee: My First Year as a Beginner Beekeeper
There is a huge beekeeping community on Twitter, which I have collected as a list Bees & Beekeeping.
EDIT: Following this blog post, there have been repeated reports in the news that unfortunately give an unhelpful view on beekeeping in London:
How do-gooders threaten humble bee
Beekeeping buzz may be doing harm
Are bees under threat from amateur keepers? Food supplies dwindle as trend in urban beekeeping sees population double
While it is worth opening debate to ask whether increasing numbers of hives may have an impact on both amounts of forage and populations of other insect pollinators, this nuance is lost in reports that are currently based on anecdotal evidence and opinion. Reporting of figures has become confused and journalists fail to capture other factors that have led to low honey yields this year, such as poor weather, bee diseases and perhaps badly mated queens, all of which may effect the amount of honey produced by a colony.
Several inaccuracies have crept into reports. For example, the Mail Online reports: ‘Without the necessary food, bees get sick as disease passes through the hive, infecting all the insects’. Again, there are many factors that could contribute to immune stressors and diseases within the hive, not just lack of food.
In addition, the forage debate appears to have become diluted with the separate topic of the education and training of beekeepers.
All in all, the style of reports has sparked much speculative comment without canvassing expert opinion or evidence-based research. The talk above is about opening debate based on some growing concerns, but it is too early to reach conclusions.
As the bees rest over winter, it is a good time for beekeepers to reflect on the season and to have debate. Let’s hope that future discussions involve garnering wide-ranging expert opinion, surveying the views of members from all local associations in London (of which there are many who represent urban beekeepers), and seeking out the evidence before making more statements to the public and press.
Mrs Apis Mellifera 
Oh Emma I love those gorgeous skeps!! Do you ever see them for sale there? I would love to buy real ones if they are at all affordable.
They are beautiful, aren’t they? I think you can buy skeps online although they are mostly used for ornamental purposes or for catching swarms. Unfortunately, they are not practical for keeping bees long term as it is difficult to extract honey (in the past bees were kept in skeps and then destroyed to get the honey) and impossible to do inspections for disease checks etc. Frank Minns of RHS suggested it was nice to have old-fashioned bee hives in the garden strategically placed among beds of bee-friendly plants, because it provides shelter for foraging insects if they get caught out in the rain and can’t fly back to their hive.
Reblogged this on lindas- gardening journey and commented:
great post and lovely blogger as well
Thank you for spreading the word, Linda! Your garden looks lovely and bee-friendly, they must have a feast! 🙂
Brilliant post Emma, almost as good as being there! x
Thanks, Emily! Ah, you were missed – I am only half a beekeeper without my hive partner 😉 Met Andy and Sara there too – Sara’s honey is delicious!
It’s nice to think that the solution to “too many” bees is more flowers…that works for everyone…and Mediterranean herbs really to work…our rosemary. thyme and lavender keep the bees very happy..as does the mint, although I don’t think that is in the same family…
I think so too. It is a happy coincidence that the plants bees love best are the plants most useful for people too. The city really needs a culture change in the way it thinks about planting trees and flowers though. London is a very green city but as a beekeeper I’ve noticed that ornamental plants far outweigh bee-friendly plants in our parks and gardens, and that there are vast areas of mown lawns which are no good to bees at all. Councils have not been very good at putting wildflowers on the agenda so we need to make them better! 🙂
You really send your enthusiasm straight off the page, but more than that you deliver such a lot to interest and great links to follow up in detail.
I noted about the “hot” colours against the blues and whites. It was something I had started to think about. I have a natural preference for blue and white flowers and I am not as fond of the exotic plants and I found that I have chosen mainly plants that the bees like long before I was thinking greatly about them. (Now they get consideration if a new plant goes in.)
I think with media coverage people will be very keen to plant bee friendly trees and plants, especially if they realise this does not mean just some wild flower patches in the summer time. Councils should be encouraged to think about planting bee-friendly trees and bushes.
I’m glad you liked it! The Honey Show was a great celebration for enthusiasts. That’s interesting you’ve observed ‘hot’ against ‘cold’ colours. It may not be a universal ‘rule’ but I’ve noticed bees love the ‘cooler’ herby plants too. I read somewhere that Australian research showed plants evolved colours to attract their native insect pollinators, it would be interesting to know more.
I’m writing to my local Council to ask for consideration to plant bee-friendly plants next year and it would be great if the media can encourage people to keep window boxes, roof top gardens, and volunteer gardening with local conservation groups – good exercise and sociable too!
I wish I had a garden like yours, there is something very relaxing about doing gardening! 🙂
I have a love/hate relationship with my garden. I love working in it when it is sunny but some jobs take such a long time that I can grudge the time it takes. There are jobs that cannot wait, fruit to be collected before it spoils etc., and if you need to something else you have to grit your teeth and remember the benefits of the garden.
A lot of work has gone into this blog! Well done! 🙂
That is lovely of you to say, thank you! 🙂
I have wondered if the fashion for people keeping urban bees was driving out the solitary and native bees, and those falling hive yields in London seem to show that might be happening. I wonder if people knew which plants bees preferred they would change the way they gardened?
I was interested to hear this story of coloured honey on the news recently, the kids thought blue honey would be a very interesting thing to see on their toast!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-05/blue-and-green-honey-makes-beekeepers-see-red/4297376
I admit the blue honey story made me laugh! Not so amusing for French beekeepers who lost their crop, oops! A similar story in New York one year – red honey when bees found a cherry factory nearby. Honeybees are resourceful, they look for the nearest, easiest source of sugar for the hive – whether nectar, M&M waste product or cherry juice. If they can store and use it to sustain the colony that’s fine, although beekeepers can only sell ‘honey’ if its origin is nectar. No idea how the chemicals in M&Ms might affect bee health, perhaps they will get hyperactive brood? 😉
LBKA is brave to ask an uncomfortable question, even though other factors have caused honey yields to fall this year like poor weather and, anecdotally, I’ve heard a few beekeepers had trouble with mated queens. However, without robust research, views can only be based on observation and speculation. Still, it makes sense to provide more wild habitat for all wildlife, that can’t be a bad thing? I think most people would be willing to help if they knew what to plant.
You are right we need to think about solitary bees and bumble bees. In my area a local nature reserve said they would think very carefully before allowing hives on their land, because three hives would introduce around 150,000 honeybees to the area to compete with what’s already living there. We need to think about existing ecosystems too. Gah! There are rarely simple answers to complex problems! 😛
I love the thought of hives in urban areas but the flowers they use were already being pollinated by something, bees, wasps, bugs, so does that mean they are being pushed out? I expect that there are many reasons that came together to make a bad few seasons though, notwithstanding M&M’s! 😀
I didn’t realize that three hives would contain so many bees, that is a lot of flowers. I always think that there should be big incentives for building owners to make rooftop gardens in cities. They would benefit everyone, not just the bees and bugs.
You are right, no problem has an easy answer, if only planting more flowers would save the day for all!
The city’s had hives for many years but beekeeping’s seen a surge in popularity in the past five years and no one’s looked closely at the effects this may have had or whether there should be sensible limits on the number of hives hobbyists in the city are advised to keep?
Sadly, I heard that wasp colonies were hit very hard by this year’s wet summer and may take three years or more for populations to fully recover. That means more aphids, flies and caterpillars for gardeners!
So lots to consider, as you say, but I’d vote for more flower beds over M&M factories! 😉
I agree! 😀
Reblogged this on Romancing the Bee and commented:
Great post!!
That’s so cool! Thanks, Deborah! x
Fantastic post! Thanks for the mention. 🙂
Deb
It’s an interesting debate, isn’t it? I wonder what the research will turn up next year…
This is so interesting! Thank you again for sharing. I always feel like I am experiencing a whole new world I knew nothing about. 🙂
Thank you! Sorry for the late reply, it is that time of year everything starts to get so busy! Yep, the honey show was a bit like a window into the world of bees and honey – you would have enjoyed it! 🙂
The show had many unique items it looked like. The first image of the ‘smoker’ (right) was very colorful and the last with the woven hives very cool.
Hi Donna, I hope you are feeling well? Yes, you would have enjoyed the honey show there was lots of interesting things to see and taste! The skeps were so pretty – I wish they were more practical for keeping bees 🙂
Reblogged this on The Garden Diaries and commented:
A great blog for newbie beekeepers to read.
And how was the honey?
I popped a new queen in the hive a couple of weeks ago but not could not see her on my inspection 10 days later,
Great post! I love beekeeping honey shows. It is so much fun to meet all the amazing beekeepers in person and see all the wonderful creative talent beekeepers possess. This would be a great post to share with my readers on my beekeeping blog hop. http://www.beverlybees.com/beeline-buzz-hop-1/
Hiya! Feel free to share, the London Honey Show is a great event held by the beekeepers at Lancaster Hotel and it was fun to meet the other beeks and see what they do with products from the hive. There is a lot of creative talent in beekeeping 🙂
I am sure there is so much wasteland in London that could be planted with bee-friendly plants. Thanks for another great blog post.
Definitely! I love the local parks but see a lot of grassy areas that could be put to better use for pollinators and same with vast areas of sports and golf courses, there could be more wild scrubland around the outskirts of these.
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