Cover Story
The Kingston Division of the Surrey Beekeepers Association moved to the Hampton Court Way allotments in the late 1990s. The apiary is enclosed in an area of five allotments and in succeeding years membership has increased from fifteen to forty.
The members are keen to
keep this interest growing.
In a bid to recruit people who might
want to explore beekeeping, an annual
Open Day is organised. During this event
people are able to see the apiary and
suitably protected, to talk with the
beekeepers as they work their hives.
This
gives those interested, who might like to
take up the craft, an insight as to whether
it could be the right hobby for them. A
training programme has been set up under
which four local applicants are offered a
free course over one year. This covers the
important aspects of beekeeping and
"hands on" instruction on activities in
sequence from April to the following
April. All others who remain interested
are given the opportunity to attend the
apiary when the regular weekly meetings
take place in the summer months on
Saturdays from 2 pm. They are allocated
as "observers" to members operating their
own hives. The following year they will
have the opportunity to apply to join the
training programme.
The club lends new members
protective clothing and hive equipment
until they are confident that they wish to
continue. They then buy their own veil,
gloves, smoker, hive boxes and glass jars
(for all the honey their own bees are going
to produce!)
Thames Ditton resident, Michael Evans, has just finished the first year with his own hive, under supervision. Michael will still have to wait until the end of the summer before he can take home jars of his own honey as the first years crop was left in his new hive to enable the bees to get through the winter. He has learnt to be sensitive and gentle with the bees and has gained a great deal of respect for them and joy from his new hobby. The experienced Kingston Beekeepers will continue to pass on their knowledge to Michael and the other new members enabling them, if they wish, to set up hives in their own gardens.
Bees fly up to three miles to collect nectar and pollen, so any honey bee you see around Thames Ditton will be from the Hampton Court Allotment apiary or even a local hive. In a good year the yield of honey from a hive can be an amazing 100lbs. The Association sells the honey to the public at the allotment apiary. It costs £3.50 for a 1 lb jar and is sold on Saturdays in the summer months, at 2 pm. Not only is it delicious to eat but if you have hayfever, it is said that local honey helps lessen the symptoms. I don't know whether this is true but it will certainly be an enjoyable experience testing the theory.
The Kingston Beekeeper Association has a website, where you can read more about its activities.
Marie Gale