Natural Beekeeping Trust

Future Events

penny — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:15:57 +0000

Thanks to the overwhelming interest and encouragement of many people who care deeply about bees, developments at the Natural Beekeeping Trust are going forward apace. We are now in the very fortunate position of employing a part-time administrator, which will enable us to work even harder in promoting approaches to bees that put the bees first. This necessitates a somewhat wider view than mere “beekeeping practice” and it is for this reason that an introduction to biodynamic gardening and farming forms part of our outreach activities. Apart from our regular course programme we will be represented at the events listed below. We look forward to meeting some of you there.

Sunday 22th August 2010, London Permaculture Festival

‘Let’s Hear it From the Bees’ - The crisis of the bees as a challenge to humanity.
Our estrangement from nature is reflected in our damaged relationship to bees. The bees are telling us that we must change to ensure our common future. Can we open ourselves to the teachings of the colony? (A talk given by a trustee of the Natural Beekeeping Trust at 11.30am)

Informal workshop and exhibition during the afternoon with Penny Crowder and Heidi Herrmann

Storrow Hall, Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London NW1 7AY (£4/£3conc.)

Saturday/Sunday 11th – 12th September 2010, Plaw Hatch Farm, Sharpthorne, Sussex RH19 4JL

‘The Theory and Practice of Natural Beekeeping encompassing the biodynamic perspective’

Please note that this course is fully booked, but applications are invited for the next course in March 2012.

Friday 8th October 2010, Village Hall, Forest Row, Sussex, 8.00pm

‘A Better World for Bees – what can we do?’

After some short presentations about the situation of the honeybee today, we will propose practical ways in which everyone can help.

With Penny Crowder, Anne Damerell, Heidi Herrmann. Ninette Sapir and Tom Ventham

This event is part of Biodynamic Food Fortnight

Saturday 30th October 2010, Rudolf Steiner House, London, 2.00pm – 5.00pm

‘The Bee as a Teacher’

Michael Kientzler and Heidi Herrmann of the Natural Beekeeping Trust will explore the theme of ‘The bee as teacher’ in a talk and workshop.
In today’s world we are used to animals being treated as commodities
because most of the active approach to nature is utilitarian. This is
to the animals’ detriment, and can be seen most clearly in the bees who
are the most sensitive of creatures. What are the bees telling us about their needs, and what can we learn from them? How can an anthroposophical understanding of the situation help us?

No need to book. £8/£5(concessions) on the door.
Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT

Saturday 6th November 2010, Plumpton College, Sussex.

Sussex Beekeepers’ Convention

The Natural Beekeeping Trust will be represented at the above convention with a stall exhibiting hives suited to sustainable beekeeping. Heidi Herrmann will give a talk about beekeeping in the context of biodynamics. Please check www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org for more details nearer the time.

Tuesday, 1st February 2011, Permaculture Picturehouse, London, 8.00pm

A talk by a trustee of the Natural Beekeeping Trust about the need for a wider adoption of sustainable beekeeping practice and organic/biodynamic farming and gardening.

Venue address: Upstairs at Passing Clouds, 1 Richmond Road, Dalston, London E8 4AA, (just off Kingsland Road behind the pub).

Doors open at 7.00pm

Saturday, 26 February 2011, Ashurstwood House, Ashurstwood, Sussex, 9.30am – 5.oopm

‘Introduction to Honeybees and their Care’

This popular taster day is aimed at providing a basic introduction to the nature and needs of bee colonies and making the case for sustainable beekeeping practice.

Ashurstwood House, Ashurstwood, Sussex, RH19 3RX. Enquiries: info@naturalneekeepingtrust.org

Weekend 26-27 March 2011, Venue to be confirmed

‘The Theory and Practice of Natural Beekeeping encompassing the biodynamic perspective’

This two-day course is aimed and giving the beginner sufficient confidence to start with a bee colony of their own. Basic knowledge of colony life is required – reading list available. As demand for these courses is high we recommend early expression of interest. Further details on our website in due course.

Saturday 30 October – Rudolf Steiner House, London – The Bee as a Teacher

heidi — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:40:39 +0000

Michael Kientzler and Heidi Herrmann of the Natural Beekeeping Trust
will explore the theme of “The bee as teacher” in a talk and workshop.
In today’s world we are used to animals being treated as commodities
because most of the active approach to nature is utilitarian. This is
to the animals’ detriment, and can be seen most clearly in the bees who
are the most sensitive creatures. What do the bees tell us about their
needs in the current crisis, and what can we learn from them? How can
an anthroposophical understanding of the situation help us?

No need to book. £8/£5(concessions) on the door.

Fantastic Bee Summer

heidi — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:56:24 +0000

It has been a brilliant summer for the bees so far, the “June gap” lasted at most two days, nectar has been flowing abundantly and the honey processing going on continuously provides delightful sensations of scent and sound when one moves around the hives. What a joy for the beekeeper to know that fabulous stores are put away for the winter – it looks like there might be a surplus of honey even by the most cautious and bee-caring standards.

Project “Inside the Hive” in Oxford

heidi — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:41:14 +0000

‘Have you ever conversed with bees?’

David Grützmacher

Taking Place: Christ Church Meadow (entrance on Broad Walk)

Social Sculpture student David Grützmacher is holding his first public socio-ecological art project here in Oxford. ‘Inside The Hive’ is both an art project and a contribution to sustainable beekeeping, which David has researched in theory and practice since 2006.

“The hives facilitate visual, auditory and olfactory perception of undisturbed bee colonies. These social beings provoke inner responses which you are invited to share in conversations or other forms of artistic expression. This project has much to do with the life of a bee colony, as with our human relationships to bees and ourselves.”

The project opened yesterday and will run until Monday 26th July (7am – 8.30pm, closed on Tuesdays) and then from Saturday 29th August to Monday 27th September (7am – 7pm, closed on Tuesdays).

Group visits enable a special focus and in depth conversation. You can book time for a group (4 – 10 adults) by contacting groups@i-bee-you.eu
Please allow one to one and a half hours for the group meeting.

Group visits for children: ‘Inside the Hive’ is suitable for children from 6 years upwards. Group size: maximum of 12 children and minimum one supervisor. Every child has to bring an agreement (pdf download available on the website) signed by their parent / guardian.

Introduction to Honeybees and their Care Saturday 31 July 9.30

heidi — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:33:22 +0000

Swarms – do we “catch” them?

heidi — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:40:48 +0000

Of all our bees, the colony in the Demeter Hive outside the student house at Plaw Hatch Farm, is the most prolific swarmer – having now swarmed for the fourth time! The very first swarm, presumably the one with the old queen, as they say, which was housed in a large skep and left in the place where the swarm alighted, or “grounded” as it were, unfortunately absconded. It is likely that the situation was not favourable, too much sun for most of the day. As no-one witnessed the absconding we can only hope that they found a good home. No, that would be a major discussion, defining a “good home” for bees, something I feel quite anxious about, as I consider that most “kept” bees are not in good homes, when you consider the endlees broodnest invasions to which so many beekeepers are prone ….. and countless other violations of bee nature … well, enough of that for now.

However, since that first swarm there have been three more swarms from this folk – everyone at the farm is now well attuned to these miraculous events. Consequently we were fortunate in “catching” all three. A new word really does need to be found to describe this activity in which I regularly engage, as it does not feel like catching. What does it feel like? It involves one act of disturbance, of putting into some kind of chaos a newly founded community of bees who have just come to an interim rest, clustering up in a sort of state of abeyance, awaiting news from the scout bees about possible future abodes, This state of brief repose is rudely shattered, but then a new abode is offered more or less straight away, which might be some compensation … what do we know. Very often the bees accept what we offer and that is really fortunate for us. They have faith in us, even though we know so little about them. So, it does not feel like “catching”, not in the slightest.

Progress Report

heidi — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:10:49 +0000

We have had a number of hardworking afternoons at the site, a pond was excavated, trees felled, boundaries marked and so forth. It is all happening, albeit slowly as we have had our hands full lately with preparing our first longer beekeeping course. The Plaw Hatch farmers have been immensely helpful to us arranging for the last stages of rotovating and levelling. We have placed a few beehives – and have sent out a general message to the world of bees that there are some very nice, previously occupied Demeter Hives awaiting. Maybe a passing swarm or two will find them and be the first to establish in the bee sanctuary …. come on, bees, send out your scouts and find these hives!

Fantastic News for the Natural Beekeeping Trust – We now have a Patron

heidi — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:44:55 +0000

We are very honoured that Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate, has offered to become our Patron. Carol Ann’s exquisite poetry, some of it devoted to the beauty and the magic of the bees, is so greatly suited to lift one’s soul to higher realms of beauty and meaning – just as the bees are wont to do. Bees and poets must have a lot to say to each other and it is a very happy turn of events that this poet’s heart is inspired by them. The photograph above was taken by Michael Woods, who kindly made it available for our press release.

Carol Ann says:
I’m delighted to offer all the support I can to the Natural Beekeeping Trust and to draw attention to the age-old connection between poetry and bees. Poetry, after all, is the honey of language. We owe bees so much and should give everything in our power for their protection.

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The bees at Plaw Hatch Farm have started swarming!

heidi — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:47:30 +0000

Thanks to the fact that everyone at Plaw Hatch Farm is exceedingly bee aware, this swarm could be offered a new home – a straw skep – within half an hour of the swarm issuing from the parent hive.

We are hopeful that the bees will approve – more news in a few days!

Swarms in May

heidi — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:19:21 +0000

Swarming started, finally, on 18th of May! Always a cause for celebration when a colony has reached “opulence in all directions” and resolves to divide. This one settled about 10 yards away and clustered quickly around a thick branch. It was a pleasure to invite them into a large straw skep to which they took readily. Whenever possible, I leave the new colony to be in or very near the place where the swarm settled. There may well be something which determined their choice but about which we know little. If this was the first swarm issuing from this particular colony their queen will have resumed laying as soon as the bees have built the first comb, constructed the first few hexagonal cells for her to lay in. It is a wonderful thing to imagine. These bees. the majority of whom now reside about ten metres away from their former home, to which they were firmly orientated, have now lost all memory of that and start afresh, as it were. That which holds the colony together and animates all proceedings of the hive, must be in a state of abeyance while this re-orientation takes place? What about the hive which they left? They will now have to reconfigure themselves and become a colony proper when the virgin queen returns from her mating flight. In the meantime, there will be an interruption in breeding within the parent colony. That is likely to reduce the burden of varroa somewhat. It is reckoned that the new queen hatches about eight days after the first swarm has left. so one might be fortunate and witness the young queen leaving with her special mating flight escort around midday. Some people who have been in the righjt place at the right time report that one has the impression that the queen is sometimes reluctant to leave and has to be persuaded a bit.