Yahoo News 5 Aug 09;
LONDON (AFP) – A new plastic beehive was launched in Britain on Wednesday to encourage people to keep bees in their gardens or on rooftops to help boost declining honeybee populations.
The bees seemed to like their ultra-modern home as they buzzed happily in and out of the postbox-like slot in the grey and yellow 'beehaus' on the roof of state-backed conservation agency Natural England's London offices.
The agency's chief scientist Tom Tew said if more urban residents kept honeybees, it would increase the insects' numbers and make them more resilient to attacks from disease and pests which threaten their survival.
"We need to recognise that if we want plants to flourish, we need healthy populations of insects to sustain them," Tew said.
"There's no reason why our towns and cities should exist as wildlife deserts -- wildlife can thrive when we design our urban areas with nature in mind and the 'beehaus' is a great example of how easy it is for anyone to bring the natural world closer to their doorstep."
Its makers Omlet claim that at one metre wide and 0.5 metres high (three feet wide and one foot eight inches high), the 'beehaus' is twice as big as a traditional beehive, giving plenty of room for the colony to grow in comfort.
The hive will produce an average of 50 pots of honey in the summer, in return for just an hour's attention a week from the owner.
The number of honeybees in Britain has dropped by up to 15 percent in the past two years, according to government figures, as they face a growing range of diseases and wild flowers they feed on are wiped out by urban development.
Hi honey I'm home
The new hobby that's creating a buzz in Britain's towns and cities
• New plastic hive promises affordable beekeeping
• Membership of local associations thriving
Caroline Davies, The Guardian 5 Aug 09;
The humble native honeybee has been dying out in recent years due to disease, but it may have found an unlikely ally in a creature which shares a reputation for busyness: the urban dweller.
Apiarist courses in many places are over-subscribed and membership of beekeeping associations has shot up with the increased awareness of the plight of the productive pollinator. Those without gardens are increasingly using rooftops for their hives.
Now Johannes Paul's company Omlet is helping to transform the traditionally rural art of beekeeping for the city dweller.
Under a leaden sky in the allotment at St James's Park in London yesterday, Paul and his three co-founders unveiled the futuristic Beehaus, a plastic horizontal hive which at first glance resembles a giant coolbox on legs.
"We're aiming for the hobby beekeeper, those who want to live their self-sufficiency dreams a little," said Paul.
With promises of 50 jars of homemade honey a year they hope to tempt the busy townie who dreams of the good life. And with the support of Natural England, the agency responsible for safeguarding England's natural environment, its green credentials seem intact.
Certainly, there is a market. "There has been a definite shift in the demographics of people coming into beekeeping," said Tim Lovett, chairman of the British Beekeepers' Association, which has seen membership increase by 3,000 to 14,500 in the last 18 months.
"Many of our new members are in urban settings, the worried wealthy, so to speak. They are environmentally aware people, who would like to do a lot more than they are able because of their busy lives.
"They are the concerned working families, the professionals under pressure from their kids who are getting the story at school. And now they are getting the message. Beekeeping is not incompatible with busy family and working life."
But with urban beekeeping comes responsibility. There are fears would-be beekeepers, seduced by the apparent simplicity of the new hive, could order on a whim with no thought for the practicalities. This could lead to the spread of diseases, the death of their bees or huge swarms in their neighbours' gardens.
"These are legitimate concerns," said Dr Tom Tew, chief scientist for Natural England, "and the first thing we would stress is that anyone thinking of keeping bees should speak to their local beekeeper association.
"But," he said of the Beehaus, "we support anything that helps promote the honeybee."
Last year more than 30% of honeybees died from disease, mainly varroa mite. This year the percentage looks still to be in the high teens or lower 20s, which is not sustainable. It is estimated the honeybee, through pollination and honey, contributes £150m annually to the economy.
Omlet, whose plastic chicken coop, Eglu, sparked a wave of urban chicken keeping, said it would offer Beehaus parties and local beekeeping courses. It will supply everything – including full bee suit – in the £495 price. Bees cost extra, however, at £80 to £150 a colony.
"Obviously, they have had great success with the Eglu," said Lovett. "But going down to the local broiler house, rescuing some redundant chickens and putting them at the end of your garden, is not terribly difficult. You feed them, water them, take the eggs out now and again, and if they do escape the local urban fox will get them. But with bees, you need to know what you are doing.
"It's very difficult to get on a course. Ours are full to the gunnels," he said. "And they are going to have difficulty in supplying bees. Maintaining supplies is a real problem.
"However, we do welcome this new hive. It will be a way in to beekeeping for a group of people. But there will be limitations. We haven't discovered the holy grail. But it is a modest, useful step.
"What people must remember is that one hive quickly become two, two become four and four become eight."
Urban bee etiquette
• Do consult neighbours
• Do place hive near a hedge or fence to ensure bees fly upwards and away from neighbours. Better still, put it on a roof
• Don't place hive so entrance is facing neighbour's swimming pool
• Do choose docile bees
Famous apiarists
Aristotle
Leo Tolstoy
Henry Fonda US actor
Bill Turnbull BBC TV presenter
Suggs Madness frontman
Get busy and give a honeybee a home
Emily Beament, Press Association The Independent 5 Aug 09;
Urban householders are being urged to consider keeping bees in their gardens, rooftops or even balconies to help protect declining honeybee populations.
Natural England, which is backing the launch of a new easy-to-use design of beehive, also wants people to support wild bee species such as bumblebees by planting insect-friendly plants in their gardens.
The Government conservation agency's chief scientist Tom Tew said gardeners should go out into their local area and see which plants the bees liked and then plant those in their flowerbeds.
He also said more people keeping and caring for honeybees would create more populations, making the insects more resilient to attacks from disease and pests which threaten their survival.
The first newly-designed 'beehaus' is going on the roof of Natural England's central London offices, and Dr Tew said the bees would be foraging in nearby areas such as St James' Park and Buckingham Palace gardens.
The bees fly high - around 5 metres above the ground - and would not be coming into contact with people on the city's pavements, he added.
He said: "We are happy to support anything that brings people in closer touch with the natural environment and helps the natural environment.
"There's no reason why our towns and cities should exist as wildlife deserts - wildlife can thrive when we design our urban areas with nature in mind and the 'beehaus' is a great example of how easy it is for anyone to bring the natural world closer to their doorstep."
Bees also provided an important service pollinating plants and crops, he said, and "we need to recognise that if we want plants to flourish we need healthy populations of insects to sustain them".
He said the more populations of honeybees "scattered around" there were, the more able they would be to cope with outbreaks of disease.
He also encouraged people to support other species of bee by installing bumblebee nest boxes in their gardens, and planting insect-friendly species in their gardens.
Bees play an important role in agriculture, with the value of commercial crops that benefit from bee pollination estimated at £100 million to £200 million a year. Honey is worth some £10 million to £30 million.
But bee populations face a growing number of threats including pests and diseases such as the varroa mite and a lack of habitat providing food sources such as wild flowers.
The number of honeybees has fallen by 10 per cent-15 per cent in the past two years, according to the Government.
There are some 250 species of bee in the UK, including 25 bumblebee species, and they are nearly all in decline.
The new beehive design by Omlet - makers of the Eglu urban chicken coop - aims to make it easier for people to keep bees in towns and cities, even if they do not have much space.
Its makers say the bees, which can forage up to three miles away from the site, will produce an average of 50 pots of honey from just an hour's attention a week in the summer.
Johannes Paul, of Omlet, said it was easy to keep bees in urban areas, and having a hive was a "low maintenance hobby which is really fascinating".
"Those in the know have been keeping bees in towns for a long time. Keeping a hive doesn't take much space, so you can even keep them on balconies, roof tops and obviously gardens."
The losses in honeybee colonies have led to a rash of "bee rustling" with hives stolen from commercial farms, but Mr Paul said amateur beekeepers keeping their hives in gardens or rooftops were unlikely to be the victims of theft.
Natural England urged anyone interested in keeping bees to consider the commitment it involves before taking the plunge, and then to get professional advice or visit their local beekeeping association for support and to see what was involved.
