Urban beekeeping project – Lindsey, Manchester 2009
6 August
The first session of the beekeeping training was held in the Community Centre in Platt Fields. There were about 25 people in the training, on a beautiful summer evening in the park in Manchester. We learnt that being stung was unavoidable, but that it could be reduced with proper hives and protective equipment. Ian Molyneux, a Regional Bee Inspector, gave us a talk about bee health, and how to keep varroa out of your hives. The mite ‘Varroa destructor’ causes deformities in bees and will kill the whole colony if left untreated.
In the last part of the session, we had to assemble a frame for the bee hive. This involved slotting together bits of wood, carefully inserting the sheet of beeswax, before nailing the final bits of wood into place. It was nice to do something practical at the end of the session, and gave me a better understanding of how the hive works.
12 August
The second session got off to a bit of a chaotic start, as we couldn’t get into the Community Centre in Platt Fields. So, we all had to perch on some picnic tables outside, but it was a lovely evening to be sat by a lake talking about bees. This session was the ‘bee health lecture,’ and we spent a long time learning how to deal with varroa.
There was a practical end to this session too, as we set fire to cardboard and had a go with the smokers. Smokers are used to calm the bees as they think there is a fire in the forest where they live, and eat some honey in case they have to make an emergency exit. Eating some honey makes them sluggish, like they’ve had two Sunday dinners, so they are unable to bend themselves enough to sting. Having enjoyed playing with the smokers, I was all set for a very practical session with real bees, a couple of days later.
14 August
I arrived late and a bit flustered to the training with actual bees at Wythenshawe Park on a humid Friday afternoon. I felt a little bit nervous actually. Paul immediately said “join the others and get a suit on.” We rolled the gloves on up to our armpits, and zipped the veils around our faces. Then looking like spacemen, we trundled after Paul to where the bee hives were.
The first volunteers took the roof off, then the crown board, then the food tray, the super (narrow frames where you would take honey from), the queen excluder, and then started to lift out of the frames from the brood box (the outer wide frames at the bottom). There were bees, eggs, grubs, honey and pollen. When it was my turn to have a go. I dismantled the hive carefully, and picked out the first frame. I was feeling very confident by this point actually, and soon progressed to one of the inner ones packed with bees. I left feeling completely inspired to get involved with a local beekeepers group, and learn more about caring for bees.