It’s not easy to keep bees. There’s the cost, the learning curve, the sheer work - and don’t forget the sting. But when John Mitchinson, head of research for BBC television show QI and keen beekeeper asked the Hay Festival crowd if they kept bees as well, a lot of hands rushed into the air. So why are British bees on the decline?
Steve Benbow had some of the answers. He started his beekeeping journey on top of a council flat in central London and spent twelve years cultivating honeycomb and a wealth of knowledge He blames the decline on a “knowledge drain”. Beekeeping is seen as a mature hobby so the mastery belongs to ageing experts, and putting it bluntly, Benbow said they were dying out. But he was optimistic and enthusiastically about a new generation of young beekeepers who were learning the craft.
There are plenty of new books on the topic that should help as well. Steve Benbow and horticulturist Alys Fowler have co-authored Letters to a Beekeeper, a correspondence between them both as Fowler navigated her first hive, and Helen Jukes was there to speak about her new book A Honeybee Heart has Five
Openings which also deals with her first year living the beekeeper life.
If you missed this you might like to go to Event 274 Walled Gardens, at 1pm on Thursday, 31 May