Norfolk Honey - Hire a hive
Have a fully managed beehive on your property (Norwich area only)
My hire a hive service is for those
who would like an introduction to bee keeping. If you wish it can work as an
intensive one to one beekeeping course that will help give you the confidence and
experience of working with bees before you need to make the full commitment
to actually buying your own bees.
It is also for those who would like to keep bees but for some reason or other can't do it for themselves. Those that are a confined to a wheelchair for example.
When you hire a hive from Norfolk Honey I will visit you and discuss
where a hive could be sighted in your garden and by arrangement (and if required)
lay down a level base for your hive (a paving slab).
Once a site has been prepared I will bring you a hive with bees and set the
hive up on your property for you. You won't be buying a hive or the bees (although
you could
buy
a new
hive and bees later if you wished) and it won't be a new hive but one that
is in use and readily available.
I charge an initial fee for this first set up stage of £250
Once the hive has been set up and the bees have been given a few days to settle down in their new location I will visit again and go through the hive with you and if we are lucky we will see the queen bee. Depending on what time of the year it is I will feed the bees, treat the bees for mites or give them more space to make honey in. I will visit the hive and do whatever is required for their sound management and welfare.
For each visit I will charge you for my petrol and time. That normally works out at around £20 per session if you are in Norwich.
We can discuss swarm control, queen rearing and management methods.
As we go through the year you will see the hive grow as I put new supers on. You will see what is involved in keeping bees and experience the bees as they take advantage of the weather. On hot sunny days in spring you will see the hive come to life as the bees tirelessly bring in the pollen to feed their increasing brood and dash back and forth for the nectar to make their honey with.
Sometime during May, June or July we may be able to take some honey from 'your'
bees and you will get a share of the honey crop. Apiaries in towns generally
produce a really good crop of flavorsome honey from a mixed nectar source.
Your honey would be made from the plants and flowers in your garden and your
neighbors gardens.
In order to extract your honey you can purchase your own honey extractor, or
borrow one from the Norfolk Bee Keepers Association (you will need to join as
a full member) or you can hire one from me. Extracting town honey is not difficult
when it is fresh but please be prepared to cope with a sticky kitchen for a day
or two when you are doing it. Alternatively we can put in unwired foundation
and your bees can make honey in the comb. What we call 'cut comb honey'.
Throughout the season I will visit the hive and handle the bees for you and with you. By the end of the first season I'm sure you will have a good idea if beekeeping is for you or not.
Please Please email me for my mobile number if you are interested in my hire a hive scheme.