THE BEEKEEPER’S CALENDAR – SESSION 2: CASTES & FEEDING – MARCH 21ST

Defining Bees
Bees of all kinds belong to the order of insects known as
Hymenoptera, literally "membrane wings". This order, comprising
some 100,000 species, also includes wasps, ants, ichneumons and
sawflies. Of the 25,000 or more known species of bees (more are
discovered every year) the majority are solitary bees - most of
which excavate and lay their eggs in tunnels. It is thought that bees
originally evolved from hunting wasps that acquired a taste for
nectar and decided to become vegetarians!

Honeybees belong to the family of social bees that includes

bumble bees and the tropical stingless bees of the genus
Meliponinae. Social bees nest in colonies headed by a single
fertile female, the Queen, usually the only egg layer in the colony.
Foraging for nectar, feeding the queen and the larvae, cleaning
brood cells and removing debris are carried out by a caste of
females, the Workers.

Besides the honeybee, Britain has more than 250 species of native
bee, many which help gardens by pollinating flowers. But these
bees are becoming scarce, as modern agriculture has produced a Anatomy of a honey bee
landscape that is rarely bee-friendly. With fewer wild flowers and suitable
nest sites, about 25% of our native bees are now endangered species.

The Apis Genus

The sub-family Apinae or honeybees, comprises a single genus, Apis, that is characterised by the building of vertical
combs of hexagonal cells constructed bilaterally from a midrib, using only the wax secreted by the worker bees. The cells
are multifunctional, being used repeatedly for rearing the larvae and for the storage of honey and pollen. Young bees carry
out progressive feeding of the larvae with food produced by glands in the head of the bee from honey and pollen.

Two attributes of honeybees that have been essential to their evolution and biology are their clustering behaviour and,
particularly in the case of the cavity-nesting species, their ability to cool the nest by evaporation of water collected outside.
These attributes enable the colonies to achieve specific control over temperature regulation within the nest, irrespective of
the external temperature. Because of this capability, the genus Apis has been able to colonise a wide variety of
environments, ranging from tropical to cool temperate. Another behavioural characteristic of honeybees is the
communication of information about food sources and the recruitment of foragers by dance language (known as the waggle
dance). The accurate dissemination of information concerning direction and distance of forage areas leads to efficient
exploitation of food sources.
The genus Apis comprises four species:

Apis dorsata - the Giant Honeybee

Apis mellifera - the Western Honeybee.
Apis cerana - the Eastern Honeybee
Apis florea - the Little Honeybee

Apis florea and dorsata build single comb nests in the

open and are prone to migrations. The lifestyle of Apis
cerana is similar to that of Apis mellifera and both are
used in apiculture with modern moveable comb hives.
The numerical strength of cerana colonies is usually
much less, and honey yields are smaller than mellifera. Some species of Meliponinae form very large colonies and store
sufficient honey to make their exploitation worthwhile. It should not be assumed that “stingless” bees are necessarily gentle
and easy to handle; they may carry out mass attacks on large intruders such as humans, inflicting painful bites with their
powerful mandibles, and some species inject a caustic venom that causes severe burns to the skin.

The effect of transferring bees to environments where they are not adapted was graphically illustrated by one event in South
America last century. European honeybees had been kept in Brazil for centuries, yet failed to establish a feral population in
the country. When a few queens of a tropical race from Africa were released into the wilds by human error in 1957, in only a
few years’ feral colonies of hybrid, africanised “killer” bees Apis mellifera scutellata (AHB) spread across the Amazon rain
forest, moving North and South and completely eliminating the European bees. AHB’s success reflected superior adaptation to
the tropical environment compared to the european bee.
In most parts of the world, especially where beekeeping is practiced on a commercial scale, the Italian bee (A.m.ligustica)
has proved the most popular, owing to its docility, its rapid build-up, and its ability to rear brood continuously until late in the
season when food is available. However, they do not form such tight winter clusters so more food has to be consumed to
compensate for the greater heat loss from the loose cluster. The tendency to raise brood late in autumn also increases food
consumption.

It is seen as suitable for countries where long, continuous nectar flows occur from late spring onwards. Italian bees were
imported into the UK in bulk from 1920 onwards, following the Isle of Wight disease epidemic (attributed to acarine – see
last module’s notes). The Italian bee has performed well in warm summers, particularly in the South of England, but heavy
losses usually occur during hard winters as it tends to forage over shorter distances compared to Carnica or Mellifera, and
may therefore be less effective in poorer nectar flows.

The other race that has been exported world-wide is the Carniolan (A.m.carnica). They are reputed to have better homing
ability than any of the other major races, and are much less prone to drifting (and presumably to robbing) and are sparing in
the use of propolis. In most North European countries there has been a tendency to move over to Carniolan bees, although
in recent years an increasing interest has been shown in re-establishing the North European Dark Bee (A.m.mellifera),
particularly in Eastern Europe.

What is the best caste to use as a colony now?

Bearing in mind that the UK weather has seen drastic changes over the last three years, with the winter of 2209-2010 being
one of the coldest and longest on record, it now presents urban London beekeepers with the question of whether to change
breeds and stock a much hardier bee more adapted to such conditions? It was originally thought that first or second cross
breeds would produce colonies that gave exceptional yields, but succeeding generations have been observed to seldom
repeat this performance. Moreover, crossing of any of the four apis species is likely to result in hybrids that often inherit the
worst traits of each species, such as excessive aggressiveness and propensity to sting and swarm easily. It is now widely
accepted that the best way to get improvement in bee stocks is by selective breeding within a single subspecies.

At this point it is pertinent to mention the legendary Brother Adam. Karl Kehrle was born in
1898 in Mittlebiberach, Germany. Due to health problems, his mother sent him at age 11 to
Buckfast Abbey, where he joined the order (becoming Brother Adam) and in 1915 started his
beekeeping training. In 1916 the Isle of Wight disease reached the abbey, killing 30 of the
46 bee colonies, with only the Apis mellifera carnica and Apis mellifera ligustica colonies
surviving.

Brother Adam then traveled to Turkey to find substitutes for the native bees and in 1917 he
created the first Buckfast strain, a prolific honey producing bee resistant to the IOW
disease. On 1 September 1919 he became the Master beekeeper of the abbey's apiary,
after the retirement of his teacher, Brother Columban. In 1925, and after some studies on the
progress of the colonies, he installed his famous breeding station in Dartmoor National
Park, which still operates today. The isolated location was chosen to obtain selected
crossings free of contamination from other bee species.

From 1950 - 70s Adam continued his gradual improvement of the Buckfast bee by analysing
and crossing bees from places all over Europe, the Near East and the north of Africa. Having
been a beekeeper for 82 years, he retired aged 93 and during his long and distinguished
career received several honorary doctorates and an OBE for his contributions to beekeeping research. An excellent
documentary on Brother Adam and beekeeping in general is available on DVD from Amazon called: The Monk And The
Honeybee. It can also be hired from Lovefilm. Highly recommended.

So, the Buckfast bee would seem to be the wisest choice to set up a colony if the weather pattern next winter is to repeat
itself. Even if it doesn’t, you still have a greater chance of this species surviving whatever the weather throws at it, with only
possibly lower honey yields as a downside if there is a lack of suitable forage.

First Hive examination of the year - March

In keeping with the seasonal calendar, at the beginning of March it is wise to keep a temperature/rainfall record at the
beginning and end of each week using either a weather forecast logging monitor (£20) or keeping track via BBC weather
online. Once the temperature rises above 12 °C / 53.6 °Fahrenheit consistently your first duty is to open and inspect each
of your hives. There may be as little as 2000 bees left in the colony and they will certainly all be weak and in poor condition
due to the lack of forage during the winter, but as long as they are moving about they have survived.

Important Blooms
At the same time you are recording the weather data you can get a good idea what type of flora your bees are likely to feed
on by noting if there are a lot of trees or flowers growing within a three mile radius of your hives. A study of the area using
Google Satellite permits you to see the amount of green space and how many trees are in the area. If its mainly trees then
the largest nectar flow will be early, whereas more flowers will indicate later (and possibly multiple) nectar flows following
the flower blooming cycles.

In March you should check the progress of flowers that should be blooming by then. The main ones are crocus, daffodils,
snowdrops followed shortly after by tulip and primrose. Obviously for the flowers to bloom there needs to be sufficient
sunlight and a rise in temperature. If there is constant rain and too cold temperatures, none of these flowers will bloom and
this deprives the bees of gathering pollen - the most important constituent of their diet. They require pollen for nutrients and
conditioning and building up stamina for their upcoming foraging flights.

If no blooms are noted by the middle of March then it will be necessary to take emergency measures to keep the colonies
alive. Each frame should be inspected to see if the bees have depleted the honey stores in the outer parts of the frame.
This would be expected, but if there are still reserves then it is not likely that particular colony will survive, as they clearly do
not have the strength to even feed themselves at close proximity.

“Every third bite of food you take, thank a bee or other pollinator” - E.O. Wilson, Forgotten Pollinators, 1996

Pollination - An essential role in nature

Bees are one of a myriad of other creatures, including birds, bats, beetles, and butterflies, called pollinators. Pollinators
transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilising the plant so it can grow and produce food. By gathering
pollen, bees play an essential role in pollination, in the multiplication of floral species and in the development of fruit
growing. Cross-pollination helps at least 30% of the world’s crops and 90% of our wild plants to thrive. Without bees to
spread seeds, many plants - including food crops - would die off.

As bees are very sensitive to pollution, it is essential that mankind respects the environment and the species and maintains
conditions that are favourable to its development. For example, by avoiding chemical treatments in fruit growing, the
destruction of hedgerows rich in melliferous plants, or the abandonment of crops such as lucerne or clover that are great
nectar producers.

Bees Keep Our Economy Humming

More than £900 million a year in UK crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans,
chives, rapeseed and many varieties of trees. UK honey bees also produce about £50 million in honey annually. But fewer
bees means the economy takes a hit: The global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and increased
production costs, has been estimated at as high as $5.7 billion per year. Keeping bee populations safe is critical for keeping
our tables stocked with high-quality produce and our agriculture sector running smoothly. In the United States alone, more
than 25% of the managed honey bee population has disappeared since 1990.

Bees of different species pollinate different plants and some bees are especially adapted to specific plant species by body
size, shape or behaviour. Hence, using bees for pollination or for honey production requires different management
techniques. For honey, the beekeeper wants to ensure that there is a large population of foraging bees with the priority of
collecting nectar.

For pollination, the bees should be intent on collecting pollen. This can be achieved if the colonies have a lot of unsealed
brood at the same time as the crop requiring pollination is in flower. The nurse bees feeding the larvae consume a lot of
pollen and stimulate the foragers to go out and collect more. Contract pollination can actually be more profitable for
beekeepers than honey production but this is not relevant to the urban beekeeper (yet).

The flowers of several cruciferous plants (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli etc. Brassica oleracea) are hermaphroditic
and self-pollinating. The flowers produce nectar as well as pollen. However cross-pollination generally produces better
results than self-pollination.
Honey Flows
Described below is an ideal set of flora conditions that would maximise any beekeeper’s yields. It is unlikely most
beekeepers will have hives in such ideal conditions, particularly in an urban setting, but this can act as a guide to what to
expect when. Erratic weather conditions will often affect the exact timings of these dates, so they should only be taken as a
rough guide and adjustments made according to what is blooming and when.

Spring Flow: The major spring flow occurs between April 25 and June 15 in the UK. Colonies should be developed to
maximum strength by April 25 for maximum production. The ideal area around the hives would have a good spring build up
of early flowers such as Snowdrops, Crocus, Dandelion, Willow, Hazel, Sycamore, Horse Chestnut and Tree Fruit Blossom.

Summer Flow: The major summer flow occurs between June 25 and August 15. Colonies should be at peak strength by
the last week of June for maximum production. When country fields turn yellow towards the end of April there is a good flow
of Oil Seed Rape - which honeybees love - producing high yields. This honey is extracted and the bees continue to fill the
replacement empty honey supers with the summer honey of Clover, Lime, Field Bean, Soft Fruit Blossom, Rose Bay Willow
Herb, Bramble, to name just a few of the suitable plants. This is followed by a visit to Borage Fields at the end of June.

Late Summer Flow: When the main honey flow is nearly over towards the end of July, the strong colonies with plenty of
young foraging bees are cleared down to empty honey supers once more. In urban settings this will be a last greatly
reduced flow, however in more rural areas hives are fitted with travel screens and straps and taken to higher altitude
moorland areas where hundreds of acres of Ling purple heather are just beginning to bloom. Heather honey has to be
pressed out because it will not extract in the usual way due to its high level of thixotropy (the viscosity is very thick).
This takes a lot of effort but ling honey usually fetches the highest prices in the UK.

Good management practices are the key to your success as a beekeeper. Honeybee colonies should be opened, checked
or manipulated one to four times each month from March to October. Timely management practices, applied when the
colonies are opened, are the basis of productive beekeeping. Colonies may be opened for checking on warm days during
the winter months when the bees are flying freely. Avoid overexposure of the brood to cold winds during these inspections.
Complete your work and close the hive as quickly as possible.

Feeding bees for energy purposes

Depending on prevailing weather and environmental conditions, the bees may need two separate types of feeds. Honey
stored in sealed caps provides carbohydrates and energy for the bees for without it they will not have the strength to gather
anything else or perform basic duties in the hive. If you have a strong hive and you have not taken any honey it would be
fairly safe to say the bees have stored enough honey to get them through the winter. Although checks should be made
throughout the season to clarify. This is generally done by lifting the hive to determine weight, if it's light, feeding must be
done. The easiest substitute for honey is to make a sugar syrup feed.

One-to-One syrup
This is commonly used throughout the season when there are barren bloom periods to keep the activity of the hive high
such as drawing comb and feeding the queen and workers.

Ingredients: 1 part (by weight) cane sugar / 1 part (by weight) water. One volume of water plus one volume of sugar when
prepared equals roughly 1.5 volumes of syrup.

Simply stir the sugar into room temperature water until all the sugar has dissolved to produce the desired quantity. The
dissolving process is sped up by heating the water using a gas stove, just be sure not to boil the sugar solution as the bees
will not drink it!

What does a Feeder do?

These are used to deliver either liquid or semi-solid feed to the bees. Various anti bug and health tonic ingredients can also
be added to the feed so that the colony is treated in an unobtrusive way. Because it is illegal to sell honey where such
ingredients have been added, this would only usually be done in early Autumn when only the bees will eat the remaining
honey in the hive over winter time.

Frame feeders come in two varieties. Plastic ones have ridges on the
insides for bees to cling to whilst drinking the liquid. We have not found this
design to be effective as many bees still get drowned in the syrup and the
plastic can go brittle in very cold conditions. The older wooden frame feeder
has a superior sinking bridge design that limits exposure of the bees to
small “wells” of honey. As the liquid volume is consumed the bridge gradually
drops down in depth.

Bucket Feeders are the quick & ready solution. They can be bought in various weights then the protective strip is removed
and the bees have access to a liquid feed. They can be refilled with your own syrup after the purchased one is depleted.
Circular feeders perform much the same function but have a raised cone inside so the bees crawl up inside to the top and
then perch down to feed on the river of liquid feed.

An Adams Top Feeder is geared towards periods when you are not going to be able to tend your hives and there is a
barren period of blooms between nectar flows. This feeder covers the whole roof surface area of the hive and is therefore
able to contain the largest volume of store feed out of any of the feeder designs. It uses much the same concept as the
circular feeder except everything is boxy rather than round.

Other Feeding Techniques

Patties (see below) are spread over the top middle set of brood frames resting on greaseproof paper so the bees can
access them.

Particularly during the long winter period, fondant will be added to the brood chamber so that the bees have access to a
solid icing style sweet energy source. Three empty frames should be taken out of the brood chamber and replaced by the
fondant package.

Fondants: www.thorne.co.uk
Using fondant or feed paste is another feeding strategy for keeping your bees in food when they cannot leave the hive at the
worst of winter. The fondant can be made up at home or can be purchased from somewhere like Thornes. They supply
fondant called Ambrosia Fondant (2.5kg = £4.75) and it contains extra sugars like fructose and glucose. What you will
notice about this fondant mixture is that it is not as hard as ordinary cake fondant, it is much more malleable and will actually
absorb a little moisture when placed in the hive.

The fondant should be placed on top of the brood frames (if the super is to remain on with honey you could place the
fondant on top of these), spread it out and push it down between the frames slightly, so the bees don’t need to move far to
get it. A pack of Apifonda combined with their honey stores should tide them through until Spring but remember to do the
weight check just in case. Note: When adding the fondant to the hive you will notice the bees’ heightened aggression, this is
to ensure the safety of their stores, so make sure you have your suit fully buttoned up to prevent stings.

Patties
After energy requirements have been taken care of you need to attend to the condition of the bees. The major essential
nutrient provided by patties is protein, although other essential nutrients are also in the mix. It is apparently possible to
make patties that entirely replace natural pollen for periods of time, but that is not the goal here. Attempts at total
replacement of natural pollen with artificial diets are not reliable, and often results in temporary success, but eventual
dwindling of the colony.

The intent of these patties is to supplement natural pollen - fresh pollen coming in and stored in the combs - and for that
purpose they work very well. Long periods (more than several weeks) of feeding these patties without natural pollen being
available will most likely result in stress on a colony and its decline.

Natural Pollen
The shelf life affects the efficacy of natural pollen. When fresh it is 100% effective, at 1 year old it is 75% effective and by
2 years old it has no effect! With that knowledge you can begin to remove small amounts of pollen at a time during the
season for your patties in the spring. Stored pollen should be kept in an airtight container until required.

Dry Pollen Substitute

Dry pollen substitute can be placed directly into the hive or used in bird feeders to attract local bees.

3 parts (by weight) Soy Flour (expeller-processed soybean flour)

1 part (by weight) Brewers Yeast
1 part (by weight) Nonfat Dry Milk (Not instant milk)

Simply mix the powders together and use. Occasionally bees may refuse to eat pollen substitute, most often when fresh
pollen is available. It is however possible to trick bees to take the substitute when necessary by integrating a small amount
of Vitamin C into the mixture. Often 1 teaspoon per 5 cups can be added. If a powdered form is not available, it is possible
to crush a Vitamin C tablet for integration.

Difference between substitute and supplement?

Ingredients: Pollen substitute patties / Pollen supplement patties
Fat free soya flour % 75 60 Brewer's yeast 25 20 Natural pollen % 0 20 totals by weight % 100 100
The first figure goes under substitute - the second figure goes under supplement.

If the natural pollen % in the supplement is below 20% then the bees are liable to disregard it. If you use fat free soya, it is
good to add vegetable oil. Soya flour with fat is better than nonfat. Use dry yeast as it will keep the patty soft.

Pollen Patty
To make a pollen patty, bind the Dry Pollen Substitute with enough 2:1 Syrup to make a putty of dough like consistency
When making patties using yeast and soy the soy should be flour, not meal, preferably from an expeller process, not
chemical extraction, and must be toasted after processing. However the expeller process is seldom used anymore, and
solvent processed flour may be the only product available and is acceptable. The yeast should have been spray dried and
have a protein content of 40% or more. Some yeasts sold for cattle feed are low in protein and contain a great deal of the
growth medium (corn) and are not suitable.

This material makes a tough dough which can be rolled out to about 5/8" thick (using soy flour to prevent sticking) and cut
into 1 pound patties which are then folded into 8" X 11" pieces of wax paper.

When feeding supplement patties, several factors are important for acceptance by the bees and minimum wastage:
1 - The hive must be queenright 2 - The patties must be within several inches of the brood
Either a high sugar content (50%+) or a high natural pollen content (15%+) is necessary to ensure the bees consume the
mixture, and to minimise waste. At feeding time, if the mixture is a little sticky when making the patties and enough soy flour
is not dusted onto the paper, the paper sometimes gets stuck to the patty. In that case, simply slit the paper in several
places to give the bees access and place the patty with the slits down immediately over the brood area.

Grease Patties
These patties containing both wintergreen oil or tea tree oil and mineral salt
appear to have an effect on varroa mites and tracheal mites. These effects can
be seen when brood is present, and has a devastating effect on mites when
brood is not present. However, grease patties with essential oils should not be
used during the time of honey collection for human consumption. During this
time, grease patties without essential oils can be used to a lesser effect. For
any noticeable effect, a grease patty of some form should be used at all times.
Also replace any consumed patties.

Ingredients:
1 part (by volume) solid vegetable shorting / 2 parts (by volume) white sugar
Mix sugar and shortening until well combined. Split into approximately quarter
cup (~6 centiliters) portions and store excess in the freezer sandwiched
between sheets of wax paper.

Nektapoll 1kg patty £6.63 - www.thorne.co.uk

Sourcing and mixing all those ingredients may seem like too much hard work if
you are pressed for time. If that’s the case, then you can fortunately buy direct Patty placed over frames
from a supplier such as www.thorne.co.uk a ready-to-feed pollen substitute/fructose
syrup patty. Use this from early March to stimulate your bees if there is a shortage of pollen. Feed between 250g and 500g
per colony by splitting the plastic sleeve and slicing patty with a sharp knife. Place the patty on top of the brood frames for
the bees to eat.

Protein Feeds

BeePro - www.mannlakeltd.com
A product of Mann Lake, this claims to be a pollen substitute, not supplement. A true substitute is a balanced bee diet with
more nutrients than simple yeast/soy patties and which can be fed at length in place of pollen, and which will sustain brood
rearing without significant increased adult mortality. However the exact detailed nutritional composition of BeePro is not
revealed, nor guaranteed as far as we know. There are no current independent tests that prove superiority of BeePro over
the yeast/soy patties many beekeepers are making using the simple and inexpensive combination of soy flour and a high
protein brewers yeast. It’s more likely to work well as a supplement rather than a substitute.

Vitafeed Gold: 1litre = £46 - www.thorne.co.uk

A biostimulant, enhanced liquid feed that is based on beef extract and molasses, it strongly stimulates the development of
colony population, particularly if weak. It is very simple to use and apply and is safe for bees and the beekeeper. It leaves
no residues and contains no antibiotics. It is particularly effective when applied to colonies infected with nosema. It is
available in 250ml (5 colony) and 1 litre (20 colony) treatments and must be applied every other day for nine days.

SuperBoost £10 - www.thorne.co.uk

This is only applicable if the bees can access pollen in the first place. It is a pheromone device
that is easily hung between brood frames. One device works for over 30 days. Claimed tests have
shown huge increases in: pollen loads, colony growth rate, young worker bees, egg laying rate,
honey production and it inhibits swarming! SuperBoost is a 10-component brood pheromone
device that is easily hung between the frames of a beehive. The wafer release device allows
workers to surround the slow release pheromone membrane and contact minute amounts of the
brood pheromone. One device placed in the hive works for over 30 days.

What to look for in the locality of your hives

In the countryside certain locations lend themselves to siting bee hives. Obviously farmers requiring specific crop pollination
will actually pay for a beekeeper to bring hives to the fields to ensure that a good yield is to be harvested and the beekeeper
will receive copious crops of pollen and honey in return for this activity. The downside to rural beekeeping is that farmers
also use a cocktail of pesticides to ensure they get good crop yields and some of these chemicals have been proven to be
fatal for many colonies and are cited as one of the main contributors to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). As fields have
gotten larger many hedgerows and small copses, often the native habitat of honey bees, have been destroyed. This has
limited the places bees can over-winter and has seen drastic reductions in the feral bee population in the UK this decade.

In an urban setting the problems are confronting honey bees are quite different. Of course there is no pesticide spraying in
our large green spaces, although many household gardeners do use them, being unaware of their disastrous effects on
honey bees. Generally it is lack of a green space that is the enemy of the urban beekeeper. As a good half of the population
in London is transient, many gardens attached to rental property are left completely neglected. Many other gardens have
been paved over to eliminate the need for gardening activities or to provide additional space to park vehicles to avoid permit
parking costs.

If you walk in a three mile radius around the area where your hive(s) will be sited you will get an idea of how much useful
forage is going to be available to your bees. If they are few gardens growing flowers then your bees will have to rely on tree
blossoms and shrubs – which thankfully there are still a surprising amount of in London. If you have Italian bees, they rely
on a continuous series of nectar flows to keep their colonies prolific. Therefore a place where there are a wide variety of
flowers throughout the season is imperative if these colonies are to get through the winter.

If your area is primarily covered with trees and shrubs then you should select a hardy bee like the Buckfast or the Carniolan.
These bees are better equipped to survive longer periods of a dearth of blooms and trees will provide a large honey flow
earlier on in the season. Any honey gathered after the first nectar flow should be left for the bees to over-winter on after the
first extraction.

Another aspect you need to be aware of is the presence of other colonies in your area. There is no easy way to determine
this unless you hear about people keeping hives by word of mouth, but the more hives that are concentrated in one area
then the less honey each colony will be able to gather. Islington contains about 4 clusters of bees throughout the borough
that we are aware of, if this was to double in number then we doubt if most hives would bring in much honey and pollen as
the borough has the least green space of any in London. Hackney has three man clusters but far more green space, so
there is capacity to expand there. Haringey has only a couple of clusters so there is great opportunity for expansion.

The places we would say are the hardest to site new colonies would be Highgate, Hampstead and certain areas of
Richmond. All three areas have a much higher than average amount of beekeepers and hence the largest amount of
colonies. One extra colony will compete for some very precious resources. All three places are renowned throughout
London as the “leafy boroughs” – known for their plethora of flowers, shrubs and trees. Colonies there often experience
three nectar flows and hence Italian bees are very well suited for such an environment, providing there are not too many
bees!
 PLANTS FOR HONEYBEES
Flower Annuals Flower Perennials Food Plants Herbs Shrubs Trees
Alyssum Achillea Alfalfa Bee Balm Blueberry Almond
Annual scabiosa Bee sage (agastache Blackberries Borage Blackberry Apple
Asters foeniculum) Beans Catnip (catmint) Black currant Apricot
Azaleas Blue sea holly (blue Cantaloupe Comfrey Broom(bissom) Alder
Calendula (pot distel) Chives Coreopsis (tickseed Buddleia American Holly
marigold) Buttercups Clover or calliopsis) Butterfly Bush Apple blossom
Calliopsis Candytuft (iberis) Corn Coriander/Cilantro Button Bush Basswood
(Coreopsis Clematis Cotton Fennel Cranberry Black Gum
tinctoria) Corncockle Courgette Field Woundwort Escallonia Black Locust
Ceanothus Corn/Red/Flanders Cucumbers Lavender Gooseberry Buckeyes
(California lilac) Poppy(papaver rhoeas) Egg plant Lesser snapdragon Heather (ling) Catalpa
Chamomile Cosmos Gourds (weasel's snout) Honeysuckle Cherry
Clover Crocuses Melon Lungwort Hollies Eastern Redbud
Cornflower Dahlias Peas Marjoram Indigo Elm
Dahlia coltness Deadnettle (lamium) Peppers Mint Japonica Fruit Tree
Dandelion Devil's bit scabious Pumpkins Oregano Kiwi Bloosoms
Elaeagnus Echinacea Quince Rosemary Mahonia (esp.crabapples)
Goldenrod English Ivy Raspberry Sage Privet Hedge Golden Rain
Hebe Foxglove Red currant Thyme Pyracantha Tree
Marigolds Geraniums Soybeans Weigelia Hawthorn
Poppies Germander Squash (firethorn) Hazel
Sunflowers Globe Thistle Strawberry Wisteria Horse Chesnut
Teasel (teazel) Greater knapweed Tomato Linden
Tobacco Plant Hollyhocks Vetch Magnolia
(nicotiniana alata) Hyacinth Watermelons Maples
Winter Jasmine Larkspur Wild Garlic Mountain Ash
Zinnia Lilacs Peach Blossom
Meadow clary (meadow Pear
sage) Persimmon
Mexican hat (ratibida Plum
columnifera) Sycamore
Nasturtium Tulip
Primrose (cowslips) Poplar
Rock Cress Willow
Roses
Sedum
Snowdrops
Spiked speedwell
Squills
Sweet William
Tansy
Thistle
Valerian
Viper's bugloss
Whorled clary
Wild clary (wild sage)
Yarrow
Yellow Hyssop