Farming Today

[Easy beesy]

Heard recently that BFA & government are offering apprenticeships and mentoring to <25s to encourage them to become bee farmers - how about extending that to people over 25 who want to up their game and try to make a go of smallholding or crofting?

[drumgerry]

Of course honeybees regardless of point of origin will pollinate plants wild and cultivated. Incidentally I live in one of those reasonably rare places where there are only garden plants if we're talking about cultivated plants and, as we are a sparse lot here in Strathspey , gardens are few and far between.

I don't want to see the extinction of bee farmers - honestly! What I want is for them to operate in a way which is sustainable and can function without resorting to imports. If they sort that out you won't hear a word against them from me. I'd even argue for them to be subsidised to achieve that!

Oh and I maybe shouldn't say any more about Sept 2014 as there'll be a many and varied opinion on here on the subject. Shouldn't have brought it up in the first place really

[Trog]

Of course honeybees regardless of point of origin will pollinate plants wild and cultivated. Incidentally I live in one of those reasonably rare places where there are only garden plants if we're talking about cultivated plants and, as we are a sparse lot here in Strathspey , gardens are few and far between.

Just been driving through your neck of the woods (to East Coast and back); saw very little of interest to bees. OK, it's winter, but I got the impression there wouldn't be much in those fields even during the foraging season. Hope you have some nice uncultivated land around your apiary.

[drumgerry]

There's plenty to be honest in season Trog. The main honey forage plants are clover from the permanent grazing and of course the annual heather "bonanza". Clover was superb this summer and sales of the honey have been helping with the weekly shopping ever since! And there's plenty of other lesser plants to keep the bees going at other times. Plenty of sycamore, wild raspberry, whins, rosebay, bell heather. If you happen to live in the upland areas of Strathspey though pickings will definitely be slimmer. I am lucky in that I live next to the Spey and there's lots of wild forage all the way along that.

[The Drone Ranger]

This is Bulgaria where beekeeping is subsidised (and regulated)
Anyone fancy a switch to their system ??

http://www.questbg.com/lifestyle/lif...e-keeping.html

[drumgerry]

Slightly dodgy translation which probably makes it all sound more onerous than it actually is.

But I'm liking this....."Neither can you set up a hive within 10 km regions with registered pedigree bees or for the production of elite queen bees and reserve apiaries. You cannot set up your hive within 5 km of regions with registered reproductive apiaries for the production of pedigree queen bees" !!

The distances likely aren't big enough though.

[The Drone Ranger]

Not sure about this, but I think all queen breeders have to be registered as well
Somebody more well read than me will know
I like the freedom we have here
The BFA can't just cherry pick subsidy and say it happens in Europe

[The Drone Ranger]

http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/resourc...rters_2009.pdf

Is there a form of subsidy at work already for imported bees?
The cost of veterinary checks seems low at £5-00
perhaps that's necessary to stop avoidance ?

[The Drone Ranger]

Still investigating the claim that European beekeepers are subsidised
Certainly not a clear cut thing
It would appear that Bulgaria there is some subsidy
But you can't own more than 150 hives
You need a beekeeping license
You need permission from the local mayor
there a several restrictions on where you can keep bees
They don't appear to allow bee imports in Bulgaria
You have to buy queens from a registered queen breeder
There are rules to restrict migratory beekeeping from coming close to existing beekeepers etc
There are penalties for selling queens and bees without a license
Course some one who has done more than just a bit of web searching might be able to fill in the details
On the face of it though the Bee Farmers Association couldn't operate as they do in Bulgaria
The rest of us might be due a subsidy but they wouldn't (in fact they might not exist)

[The Drone Ranger]

Spain Has Subsidy but as far as I can tell it's an EU backed program and only applies to the production of organic honey
The honey production is very strictly monitored and taxed
It seems that like many places in the developed world that beekeeping is not permitted in urban environments