Beekeeping is in the family. For many, many years I observed, listened and absorbed beekeeping techniques, tradition and folklore from a distance. I was around bees and beekeepers, I spent time in apiaries but I saw no reason for me to actually have any hands on involvement with honey bees ... perhaps because someone else was kindly looking after them and I had honey!
Beekeeping by invitation. About seven years ago clients asked if I would consider keeping bees for them. Concerns about the demise of wild honey bees and the plight of domesticated honey bees was very much in the news. Since most of my clients gardens are on roof tops I began to simultaneously research roof top beekeeping and Natural (Biodynamic) Beekeeping. Simultaneously, news was spreading that urban honey bee colonies were thriving whilst rural bees seemed to be under seige from a range of pests and infections. With encouragement from clients and beekeeping family memebers I set up two apiaries with 2 hives in each.
It's all about the bees, Beekeeping by observation: Way in the past before modern hives were devised Beekeepers relied on observation and intuition to manage their bees. They could not look inside the hive and catastrophically, harvesting the honey meant destroying the hive completely. Modern Natural Beekeeping incorporates the wisdom of watching and learning only to intervene when the bees really need help. This allows a bee colony to thrive and develop whilst reducing the amount of labour involved in Beekeeping.
Nature and life cycles: As with all other livestock Bees are subject to weather, environment and the randomness of life itself. From Bees we learn a lot about collective conciousness, commitment, collective endeavour, tenacity and the ups and downs of living on planet Earth. Beekeeping is not a Romantic venture and the road to honey production is not without challenges which is why Honey has always and still does have a semi magic aura about it.
Becoming a Natrual Resource: People like to talk about bees and have many questions regarding starting out as a Beekeeper. After a few years I realised that a major stumbling block to people starting small scale apiaries was NOT having access to a mentor or experienced, on hand Beekeeper. Which is what I had. Of course there are Associations and educational opportunities, however, as I know from experience this is not always sufficient when facing a hive of 80,000 less than happy bees. The idea of launching beekeeping4u.com coalesced and evolved over the last three years.
Beekeeping4u.com: The idea and energy behind this service is to actively enable individuals and SME's to own, nuture and benefit from honey bees whilst allowing the bees to flourish in peace, thrive and to grow stronger.
Beekeeping might just be 4 u .life: The dynamic of a bee hive is inspirational for most people who come into contact with them or become interested in them. Even folks who do not wish to approach a bee colony are impressed (at a distance) with the collective drive and purpose of the bees. The hive mind, the unflincing tenacity of bees, the bounty of honey is a powerful motivator for those who are even remotely involved with a bee hive.