Britain Meets
Above left: A cross section (cone) of one of the Regent's Park hives. Above right: Toby regularly checks that his bees are happy
lime trees within 100 metres of my hives,” he explains. There is real a ‘hive’ of activity around city-based
beekeepers. In the last five years, the British Beekeepers Association has almost doubled its membership. “Even if you only have a small balcony, flat roof or public place, such as a cemetery, you can harvest tasty honey.” The flavour of honey is a distillation of all the flowers
that the bees have been visiting; some honeys have strong flavours, others have a delicate taste. The taste depends on the location of the hive. Explains Toby: “If, for a radius of three or four miles there is a single crop, then that is all that the bee gets to eat, resulting in a delicate, slightly bland flavour. If your bees are feeding on privet, then your honey will be bitter. Lime trees make for a light and floral flavour. When you taste Regent’s Park honey, you might pick up on
THE BUZZ ABOUT BEEKEEPING
150 million The number of years that it is believed bees have been producing honey in the same way. 27 kilograms The volume of honey an average hive can produce in one good season. 55,000 miles The distance bees fly to make one pound of honey. It equates to one-and-a- half times around the world! 20 seconds The time the queen bee takes between laying eggs. 2,000 eggs The number a queen bee can lay per day. 35,000 bees The typical
52 BRITAIN
amount of honey bees in a hive during the height of summer.
150 bumbles The typical bumble
bee population (much smaller than the 35-50,000 of the honey bee). Five eyes! Yes, honey bees have five eyes, which are capable of seeing colour. 20 mph The speed at which a worker honey bee can travel. Once laden with pollen
this speed slows to 12mph. One million The number of pollen loads (each weighing 20mg) that a honey bee can collect each season or year. Source: The British Beekeepers Association,
www.bbka.org.uk
grapefruit, elderflower, lime, mint and rose flavours, for example. The season also impacts on taste. When it nears the end of summer the honey is dark and more savoury.” The taste can also vary from colony to colony. There are
over 40 colonies spread over four sites in secret locations around Regent’s Park. The volume of honey from this many colonies means that Toby is, in fact, a bee farmer rather than a beekeeper. But he says he is somewhere between the two. (A bee farmer is a professional beekeeper, whereas the term beekeeper is used to describe an amateur with a passion for beekeeping.) “My role is to ensure the bees are healthy and happy – if the hive is the right temperature and the bees are going about their work, I know they are happy” explains Toby who is very passionate about his job. Toby “fell in love” with beekeeping when he attended a
beekeeping course. “As I lifted the roof off the hive, I was fascinated by this completely different world. It initially seemed like a crazy chaos, but within minutes I realised it was very structured, that there were thousands of little beasts all doing their work. In addition to that there is this amazing sound and smell – all my senses were attacked.” Toby describes the sound as a roaring. “It is the sound of
vitality and energy, and it smells warm and clean. Imagine the smell of a florist, but where florist shops are cold, this smell is warm and sweet, unfamiliar but delicious.” This sweet smell might seem unfamiliar to many now,
but the promise of a satisfying hobby and delicious honey is set to capture a new breed of British beekeeper, and turn what might have easily become a sight of the past into a range of modern hives and city honeys for the future.
Pure Food produces Regents Park Honey in Regent's Park, London. For more information visit
ww.w.purefood.co.uk
www.britain-magazine.com
PHOTOS: COURTESY PURE FOOD/ISTOCKPHOTO
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