This presentation is about what a beekeeper can learn from careful observations without opening a hive and disturbing the bees. It has evolved over the years as the bees teach Ann many more new lessons, and it includes things seen a little further away from the actual hive entrance. It is a presentation thoughtfully prepared with all stages of beekeeping experience in mind, and its purpose is to share the joy of watching bees.
Guerrilla gardener, compulsive litter picker and evangelist for nature, Paul Jupp runs a Community Interest Company, promoting gardening for wildlife and biodiversity and providing seeds. From a long career in the garden industry, Paul now devotes his time to showing people how to create flower meadows for pollinators, in private gardens and public spaces, putting the colour back into our landscapes and counteracting the chronic loss in insect populations. He works closely with local groups and councils, advising on appropriate plant species for specific locations and demonstrating methods for success.
“Flowers have a seductive power that engages even the most sceptical onlooker. Every bloom is an uprising of hope in the face of the huge ecological and existential challenges we face. It can be a step towards realising our power to create a more beautiful and positive future.”
Since the start of our project in 2011 we have been travelling the length and breadth of the country to attend hundreds of garden shows and festivals (RHS Chelsea, Hampton Court, Chatsworth, Tatton Park, BBC Gardeners’ World, Glastonbury, Wilderness, Wood Festival, BBKA Conference, and the National Honey Show to name a few – to trade, give talks & demonstrations, and to attempt to educate, inspire and motivate. People growing seeds in their gardens or witnessing our community gardens, roundabouts and verges – a profusion of blooms supporting clouds of pollinating insects – will be moved, not just by the beauty, but I think by an awareness of the extinction of experience we have silently witnessed; the colour leached from the landscape in our lifetimes. And as a CIC, rooted in our Wiltshire community, but working across the UK, we can be more effective in breaking down barriers, always trying to practice kindness and generosity, and seeing the power in communities to take back control, often in very small increments, building momentum with each step. Our work does not just help people connect with nature in their gardens, it also leads to a greater sensitivity to the bigger picture (The UK is ranked 189th out of 218 countries for how we look after our nature) –
This webinar follows the journey towards harnessing the positive energy around growing seeds, and visualising the emerging seedlings as an uprising of optimism, a YES vote for a bee-friendly future!
BIBBA’s Special Apiary Project: Sandringham
The beginning of the project
The Sandringham estate
Finding and setting up the Apiary
Resourcing the Apiary
Abberton Black Bee project visit
Our chosen breeding methodologies
Building the project year 1
Upgrading and future proofing the Apiary
Our experience and learning in year 1
Our Experience to date in Year 2
Our aims and plans moving forward
Colm ONeill has been beekeeping for over 50 years, he and his three brothers worked 30 colonies with their father until Colm took over the beekeeping operation in his early 20s. With his wife Imelda he manages 60 honey production colonies and supporting nuclei, producing honey, native queens, drones and worker bees.
They use only Amm bees for local adaption, ease of management and rapid Spring build-up. Both have full-time jobs, working the bees the weekends and queen rearing tasks as needed on weekday evenings.
He is education officer for his local association, a committee member for the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and holds beekeeping, bee improvement and queen rearing classes at his home apiary. Along with Jonathan Getty, he has been giving online training to the more than 200 members of the NIHBS Queen Rearing Group Scheme since 2021. Their management system gives them little or no swarming and facilitates the replacement of up to 50% of the brood combs each year. While there may be 20 or more frames with brood in a colony, only 14 frames need to be looked at during weekly inspections.
