Photography courtesy of The Newt, unless noted otherwise. Cover photo by Justine Hand
As urban beekeeping booms in popularity, Paula Carnell, head beekeeper at The Newt in Somerset, explains a few tips to ensure that all pollinators are fed, even with the introduction of new honeybee hives.
Photo by Justine Hand
According to Paula, the local eco-system can be thrown off balance when people buy bees for their new hives. “If you buy packs of bees, then you’re introducing 50,000 more hungry mouths that need feeding.”
Establishing a hive in an area with plenty of forage will attract local bees and will not upset the natural balance of things in that particular area.
In a city, on the other hand, food is already scarce, and beekeeping makes this worse.
So what can those of us living in urban spaces do? Would-be beekeepers should focus instead on creating habitat as well as a long-lasting food source, Paula says.
One of the most vital aspects of keeping pollinators happy, says Paula, is diversity in planting, that covers as much of the year as possible.
For home gardeners, a good proportion of natives will be very helpful.
“You’ve got to have things that will produce nectar in all different temperatures,” says Paula, and native plants are the most effective at that, having co-evolved with native pollinators.