HIVE RENTAL GUIDEBOOK
3. 4. 5. 6. 8. 9. 10. 11. Welcome Our Service Explained What s Included The Benefit of Bees Rental Options Additional Services About Us Frequently Asked Questions
Hello From Barnes & Webb Beekeepers Founded in 2012 we re Barnes & Webb Beekeepers, a hive rental company managing hives in gardens and rooftops across the city.. For a monthly fee we install and maintain hives for our customers, sharing the honey after the harvest each season. Our corporate hive rental is particularly popular and a great benefit to many businesses. This guidebook gives you an introduction to what we offer, how we do it and who we are. It also includes pricing options and an FAQ. If you d like to arrange a site inspection or have a question please call 020 837 7105 or email hello@barnesandwebb.com.
Our Service Explained BEEKEEPING THE EASY WAY The honey bee is a fascinating and hugely important animal. The ancient art of keeping bees is a magical experience but also a daunting endeavour to start alone. This is where Barnes & Webb can help. With over 10 years combined experience, we source the bees, build, install and maintain the hives and look after every little detail for you. At the end of the season we extract, jar, and label the honey and deliver it to your door whilst giving you the opportunity to learn about bees and beekeeping. A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE There are many threats to honey bees and there s a big responsibility in looking after 50,000 of them particularly in an urban setting. During the active season we inspect every colony on a weekly basis to prevent swarming and deal with any issues as soon as they may arise, making sure every colony is alive and kicking. HONEY HARVESTING At the end of the season the honey supers are removed from the hives and taken to our workshop to be extracted. The honey is coarse filtered and unheated with nothing removed or added. We jar and label by hand and deliver our postcode honey direct to your door.
What s Included - - - - - - - - - Hand built cedar wood beehives Hard working, healthy, gentle colonies 25-100% of the honey harvest Honey extracted, jarred, labelled and delivered to you 25+ hive visits a year from us Detailed monthly hive reports A preventative disease treatment programme Guided inspections for you and your staff Talks about honey bees, beekeeping and your hives
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The Benefits For You STAFF TRAINING Learning about bees and beekeeping is a unique, engaging, and beneficial activity for you and your staff. Included in your rental is the opportunity for staff to put on a suit and try beekeeping for themselves. As well as teaching the basics of inspecting a hive, you ll also learn about the honey bee and how it s connected to your local environment and the seasons. TALKS & EDUCATION We ll visit you at the office to talk about what we do. Encourage your staff to get involved, and give everyone a better understanding of the honey bee and beekeeping. YOUR OWN BRANDED HONEY After the harvest you ll receive your agreed percentage with the option to have your own branding on the labels. Our customers have found their honey makes a great gift to clients and can be a great marketing tool, as well as sharing it with your employees.
STAY CONNECTED We send regular updates on hives with detailed reports which can make a welcome addition to the staff inbox. These outline the current honey levels, hive health, and what we ve been doing week to week along with a plan for the upcoming weeks. HELPING THE HONEY BEE Honey Bees are flourishing in London but on a national, and global scale they re suffering a large decline in numbers due to pests, disease, farming and environmental issues. We re committed to maintaining a healthy and sustainable urban network of hives in the city, and working to give bees the best chance of survival in the future. COMMUNITY BENEFIT Alongside our standard hive rental we re installing hives for free in community spaces to allow ore people to enjoy the benefits of keeping bees. They provide an educational resource and a local sustainable food source. Our business customers help us to make this possible. MAKING LONDON GREENER You ll help us make London a better habitat for honey bees and other wildlife. We partner with growers who can create beautiful green spaces for your business. These spaces would not only provide you with organic salad and veg, but the plants used are chosen by their ability to provide a nectar and pollen source for a wide range of insect pollinators.
Hive Rental Options & Prices The following options are based upon the rental of two or four hives. This can be tailored to your budget and the location and size of your outside space. Jars weigh 227g (1/2lb). TWO HIVES 175 per month DRONE BEE SERVICE 2 working hives, installed and maintained by us. 25% share of the honey harvest (approx 50 jars) 225 per month WORKER BEE SERVICE 2 working hives, installed and maintained by us. 50% share of the honey harvest (approx 100 jars) 315 per month QUEEN BEE SERVICE 2 working hives, installed and maintained by us. 100% of the honey harvest (approx 200 jars) ADDITIONAL HIVES + 35 per month per hive + 50 per month per hive + 75 per month per hive
Additional Services YOUR OWN BRAND OF LONDON HONEY If you d prefer not to have the jars labelled by the postcode, we can design a label especially for you and have it professionally printed. Alternatively the honey can be left unlabelled. AN URBAN OASIS FOR YOU AND LONDON S WILDLIFE We partner with some great gardeners who can create a great looking haven for honey bees, pollinators and other wildlife in any space large or small. With lots of fresh, organic salad and veg for your kitchen! Contact us for more information. ADDITIONAL HIVES If there s room and enough local forage available for the bees we can install extra hives at a fraction of the original cost. Which should mean lots more honey. NO OUTSIDE SPACE? If you want bees but don t have a suitable space for hives we can find a site for you. You ll still get all the benefits of the hives including guided inspections. Contact us to discuss the options.
Show Me The Honey DELICIOUS & LOCAL LONDON HONEY Our honey contains an amazing combination of nectar and pollen collected by the bees that produces a unique flavour year to year. Flavours vary from a light citrus to dark and thick toffee. It s always delicious and completely different to most honey found on the supermarket shelf. Everything is harvested by hand with nothing changed and nothing added. Simply coarse filtered and jarred. This means it retains all the important vitamins, minerals, enzymes and pollens particles that ultra-filtered pasteurised honey doesn t. All honey from our hives is great natural sweetener with anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties. In 2015 our honey won the award for London s Favourite Honey in the Urban Food Awards.
A Little Bit About Us We are British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) certified beekeepers with over 10 years combined experience, members of a number of London beekeeping associations as well as being part of the Bee Farmers Association. We re passionate about bees and beekeeping, as well as sustainable urban farming and food production. We re responsible beekeepers, employing a rigorous health regime, and swarm prevention methods. We use only natural disease treatments and we only place hives in areas that have sufficient forage for the bees. We only harvest surplus honey and leave the bees with the stores they need to survive over winter. We re always striving to be more sustainable too - visiting bees by bike or using public transport whenever possible. By stocking the honey in shops nearby each hive we re also reducing food miles.
Further Reading and Press ARTICLES The Telegraph - Urban nectar: why London s top chefs are turning into beekeepers Evening Standard - Rise of the Urban Beekeeper Vice / Munchies Film - Liquid Gold Modern Farmer - From N16 to SW9: How London s Urban Farmers are Cultivating the City Guardian - From bees to supertrees - how cities are evolving Evening Standard - Fantastic quality of food produced in London recognised by City Hall prizes Huck - The Londoners fighting to save the planet with bumble bees Indie Farmer - Post Code Urban Bee Keepers White Stuff - Interview Grow Eat Gather - Meet the Beekeepers
EXHIBITIONS Sony #FutureofCities - Somerset House, Apr - May 2015 Save the Bees - Forge Gallery, Shoreditch, Sept 2014 PARTNERSHIPS Connected Roots - Planting partner World Bee Project - Consultants & Apiary Managers / Beekeepers AWARDS Urban Food Awards 2015 - London s Favourite Honey
Frequently Asked Questions GENERAL Do you cover my area? Currently we cover central and Greater London, but if you are located elsewhere please still get in touch and we ll send you updates as and when we expand our service area. What is the ideal place for a beehive? Bees like a sunny spot with partial shade, ideally near a fence or screen which protects the hive from the wind and encourages them to fly up above head height when leaving or entering the hive. Rooftops are perfect. My outdoor space is very small - can I still have bees? A beekeeper needs enough space (approx a 3 meter diameter) around the hive to carry out the work. But bees have been kept on balconies, so anything is possible. The only way to know for sure if you have a suitable space for beehives is to arrange a free inspection. Email us on hello@barnesandwebb.com. Why is there a minimum term to your contract? Bees don t like being moved around too much and it s not a simple task either so we have a minimum contract of 1 year. Most people keep their bees for years as they immediately enjoy having them around and of course there s the honey that we harvest at the end of summer.
Access might be tricky at certain times. Is that a problem? Some beekeeping activities can be very time sensitive so occasionally we ll need to access the hives at short notice, late at night, or early in the morning. However, inspections are usually carried out during the day, Monday to Friday. When we carry out the initial site inspection we discuss this with you. Are there any laws regarding keeping bees? There aren t any specific laws regarding beekeeping. We do have a contract which you ll need to read and sign but this is as much for your benefit as ours. What if someone complains? To prevent this from happening we recommend that you inform everyone using the surrounding area that you plan to have beehives before we install them. Usually a bit of enthusiasm and an explanation will bring them around. If you don t feel confident doing this then direct them to our website so they can read for themselves. If anyone complains after your bees have been installed, it s best to use common sense first, have a chat and ascertain what the problem is. Most disputes can be resolved with a kind word and a jar of honey, only in a very rare case would we have to remove the bees. BEES What type of bees will be in my hives? Currently all our bees are Buckfast and Carnolian - chosen for their suitability for urban, backyard beekeeping. If any of our colonies become too aggressive or exhibit any other bad traits we will re-queen them as soon as possible. Should I be worried about getting stung? Unlike Wasps, Honey bees usually only sting as a last resort because they die in the process. We position your hive to avoid the bees flying across frequently used areas and if you re relaxed around them they ll leave you alone.
What about children? With young children, you should only need to tell them not to play too near the hives. If a hive was disturbed or worse knocked over this could cause the bees to become defensive and sting. How about cats or dogs? Cats and dogs generally get on fine around bee hives, again we can t guarantee your pets won t get stung but if it happens once they re generally smart enough to avoid them in the future! What do we do if someone gets stung? The first thing to do is to remove the stinger by scraping it out with your fingernail or the blade of a knife then put some ice on it to help relieve any pain or swelling. You can then clean the affected area and apply an antihistamine ointment. What can we do to help our bees? There are lots of things you can do to keep your bees happy when we re not there. Firstly make sure they have access to water. They prefer shallow damp areas that they can stand on and drink from. So a small pot or dish with mud/gravel in it kept wet will suffice. Secondly you can make sure there s enough food in the near vicinity by planting wild flowers, or at the very least not pulling them up. A wild garden is not only good for bees but for many other animals too. Will our bees swarm? We spend the spring and summer doing everything in our power to prevent the bees from swarming. However, it s a natural process the bees have to reproduce so it s hard to prevent. If you see a swarm of bees don t panic - this is when they are at their most docile. Contact us as soon as you can or failing that contact your local council and they will send someone out to collect the bees.
HONEY When will I get my honey? Beehives are normally harvested towards the end of August. All being well with your colonies you should receive your share of the honey in September. How much honey will I get? Depending on which rental option you choose you can get between 25% - 100% of all harvested honey, with an average of 100 jars per hive. Why is this a percentage and not a fixed amount? The weather, the queen, the health of the bees and the availability of forage have significant effects on the honey crop so it s impossible to give an exact figure. Our bees are chosen for their honey making skills and we do our utmost to give them the best conditions for producing honey. In the first year however the yield may not be as high as subsequent years as the bees establish the hive. What kind of flavour will the honey have? London honey is regarded as some of tastiest honey you ll find and has won many awards in recent years. This is due to the huge variety of flowers available to the London honey bee. This also makes it impossible to tell exactly what flavour your honey will have. In urban hives the bees forage in gardens within a 3 mile radius. Normally by the end of the honey season all London honey has sold out, so guard yours with your life!
Thanks for your time. Any questions? Call 020 8050 1757 or email paul@barnesandwebb.com WWW.BARNESANDWEBB.COM