Welcome to the Hive
The Waites family started keeping bees in 1997: Two hives in our back
garden in York. By 2001 this had expanded to five. Far too many for an
urban apiary.
So it was that in early 2002 the owners of "Great Wood" Flaxton
kindly let us use some land at the back of their wood in exchange for
some of the golden honey.
Our two apiaries:
-
The Flaxton Apiary.
Suited and ready for action
At present we produce about 150lbs of honey a year. Not much but this is just a hobby and we are not maximising our output. In 2002 we estimated it was costing us £2.30 per lb to produce so our selling price of £2.50lb was hardly going to make our fortunes.
We do have a surplus which we sell at £2.50 and if anyone is passing through Heworth, York and would like some then give us a call. Also if anyone knows how we could set-up an online shop to sell it I would be interested to hear from you. It all seems very expensive though, to set up an e-shop when you've only one product and I guess that the price of postage and packing may prove prohibitive.
So here we are from two hives to ten the hobby sure does grow. There
is however nothing to beat the sight of hundreds of buzzing bees picked
out in the summer sunshine, or waking up to the smell of freshly baked
bread and lashings of home produced honey.
The blended stuff you buy in the supermarket is not a patch on it.
You can follow our hobby through the diary; a month by month report on our ups and downs on trying to keep bees in a back garden.
We also hope to write some bits and pieces to help folk understand more about these interesting creatures. We've called it our technical pages. In practise they are anything else but. They are a mixture of bits and bats that you may find interesting.
We hope you enjoy the web-site and I hope these pages give you an insight
into the fascinating world of these industrious little creatures, and
to the challenges we've have had to face in beekeeping in an urban environment;
be you an interested onlooker or an expert beekeeper yourself. (Please
feel free to write and tell us your advice: I think this is one hobby
where you will never be in the position to call yourself an expert)!
Bees in the 'honeypot'