If like me you don’t have the time or the space to have a beehive then the next best thing might be to adopt a beehive. As a volunteer with PLANT I’m very aware of the essential role of the honey bee in pollination of all our crops, plants and flowers. It isn’t practical to have a hive in the Tayport Community Garden so, when I heard about the Adopt A Beehive scheme, I thought we could all be beekeepers by proxy.
bee hive treats
The website is easy to negotiate and after signing up the ‘beekeeper’ receives a welcome pack with honey, bee-friendly wildflower seeds and a pocket guide to the honey bee. The donation also helps to raise funds to support honey bees. We can also follow the life of the beehive and beekeeper with seasonal updates.
I’ll just summarise one of the articles in the latest newsletter entitled, The Three Best Ways to Provide Pollen. The first tip stresses that ‘weeds’ like dandelion and clover are an important food supply for bees, so perhaps leave off mowing that lawn for a few days! Apparently, single-petal flowers like daisies and small flower clusters such as the herb marjoram are easier for the bee to access and finally, white and yellow flowers are easier for the bee to locate.
It would be great to hear from any beekeepers in the Tayport area and to know how the bees are doing this year. I love the old tale about beekeepers telling their news to the bees to keep the hive happy and up-to-date with events.
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Great idea to adopt a hive Kathleen. Look forward to hearing more about it.
Jenny