Hay
Fever Misery, many people suffer and many people are finding out
that local honey can
really help, click... here and go to the latest news to find out
more about it.
Forthcoming Events:
Art in Action, Weds 15 - Sun 18 July at Waterperry Gardens, Waterperry,
Nr Wheatley, Oxford.
Open 9 - 5.50pm each day. We will have our beekeeping display
with our Observation Beehive plus lots more at this great show.
Bakewell Farmers' Market Saturday 24 July 2010 (note different
date to usual)
See events page for details.
The collapse of honeybee colonies has been widely reported, but
most of the UK's 250 bee species appear to be in decline, which
has serious consequences for crop pollination.
The aim of the national Bee Part Of It! campaign is to investigate
and highlight the decline of the honeybee population in Britain
and to encourage people locally up and down the country to get
together and do what they can to help the honeybee re-establish
itself.
The project has been adopted by the National Pollen and Aerobiology
Research Unit, at the University of Worcester. It will be taking
samples of pollen, dead bees and honey across the season for analysis.
The Unit hopes this will provide some more clues about the causes
of colony decline.
There are plenty of ways for people to lend their support to
help honeybees. Planting the sort of plants and flowers the bees
love in gardens, pots, windowsills and balconies would go a long
way to encouraging the numbers of bees to increase.
BBC Local Radio stations are distributing packets of bee-friendly
seeds to aid listeners in their support of the bee colonies and
offering people the chance to help create new wildflower-rich
spaces that will attract bees and other pollinating insects.
Springwatch's Kate Humble says of the Bee Part Of It! campaign:
"I first got interested in bees when I was filming with a
local bee-keeper for Springwatch and realised that by becoming
a beekeeper I could so something really tangible to help the fairly
desperate situation that our bee population has found itself in.
"Most of our wild honeybees have died out and we, as humans,
are very dependent on bees to pollinate food crops."
She continues: "To have bees visit you is like having nature's
own expert team of gardeners working really hard for you as they
help pollinate your vegetable patch, fruit trees, flowers –
anything that depends on pollination. Having bees in your garden
is a cause for celebration – invite them in!"
Beccy Speight, the National Trust's local food champion, said:
"We're delighted to be working with the BBC on this project,
and we hope the 40 new bee colonies we're introducing at National
Trust properties across the countries will thrive.
"Without the honeybee, our environment could change dramatically."
People can also show their support for the Bee Part Of It! campaign
by contributing through Flickr on www.flickr.com/groups/bbc_beepartofit/
and via Facebook on www.facebook.com/bbcbeepartofit.
Bee Part Of It! is a BBC Local partnership with the National
Trust. The project is supported by the British Beekeepers' Association,
The Wildlife Trusts, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Buglife
and the Department of Apiculture at the University of Sussex.
Notes to Editors
The National Trust is one of the most important nature conservation
organisations in Europe with over 1,000 sites covering 250,000
hectares, including coastal sites, woodland and upland areas;
many of which are rich in wildlife.
The honeybee hives are wholly the property of the National Trust
organisation. The welfare of the hives is therefore the sole responsibility
of the National Trust too. Each hive adopted by a BBC Local Radio
station has its own trained bee keeper to look after it.
The hives are not open to members of the public.
To
see photos from our apiary in the Peak District click...here
Come
and see our Observation Beehive at this months Art in Action and
watch our bees making honey in the grounds of Waterperry Gardens
in Oxfordshire.
HOW TO START BEEKEEPING
Many people are keen to learn about beekeeping following
the recent media coverage about the problems with the bees, but
what do you need? How much does it cost? Where to start beekeeping,
beekeeping courses and many more questions can be answered in
our information pack.
It covers most of the points and guides you into the craft of
beekeeping.
It includes : our leaflets "How to start beekeeping",
"The problems with bees", contacts about beekeeping
activities in your area, our price list and an excellent book
called Bees at the Bottom of the Garden.
To order our pack send a cheque payable to The Honey Pot for £15
(UK only) and I will send one to you, don't forget to include
your name and address.
Tony Maggs started The Honey Pot back in
1990 at Markeaton Park Craft Village in Derby, UK, in the East
Midlands, to provide a link between beekeeping and the public.
The beekeepers come to buy all of their beekeeping equipment,
and the public come to buy their local honey and products of the
hive by our own bees.
All of the honey we sell comes from near by at our own apiaries
, so we sell direct to the customer.
The Honey Pot also does a few Farmers' Markets and Shows and has
a number of selected outlets near by to provide the customer with
a source of local honey produced from our own apiaries, reducing
food miles.
The honey produced by The Honey Pot uses traditional and ethical
methods with minimal stress to the honey bees. The quality of
local honey is down to the care of the beekeeper.
Local Honey is nature's direct health food, do not confuse or
compare local honey with the majority of honey available in the
shops, this is imported and the methods used cannot be guaranteed.
Here in Britain, local honey will normally have the name of the
county on the label and the beekeepers name and address.
For more information about the benefits of Local Honey and how
it helps the Hay Fever and Asthma sufferers, go to the latest
news pages of March, April and May.
If you are having difficulties sourcing local honey near to where
you live, try your local Farmers' Market, health food shops, shows,
garden centres' or some times your local butcher stocks local
honey. If you are still having difficulties send me an e.mail
and I will try and point you in the right direction and I will
try and give you some contacts to try.
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