Beekeeping

We here at The Beekeeper keep bees because they are such a critical part of our lives. We will undergo great feats to help them and make sure that they are thriving. Simply put, we live them.

There is a saying that when bees die out, all life will stop after 3 to 4 years. We intend that this never happens by creating methodical initiatives for the betterment of the bees’ environment and subsequent survival.

As a part of this strategy we have decided when we do a Bee Relocation to take the environment which the bees came out of into consideration and move them to a very similar environment to make sure they thrive after the move. We then make certain that they are doing well by constantly checking on their status and surroundings in order to see to it that they have enough of everything they need in abundance (food, water, shade etc.).

Furthermore we have started a Bee-initiative for beekeeping in residential areas – this is a perfect solution for the problem the world and more specifically South-Africa, is currently facing. This initiative allows bee enthusiasts to ‘own’ their own personal hive in which the bees can live and there-by improve population, with the further personal advantage of raw honey harvested from your very own garden. Unfortunately though, there are some qualifying factors to keep in mind:

• The apiary site needs to an enclosed area inaccessible to animals and children.
• The apiary site needs to have a water source within 5 meters of the site and ample shade.
• The apiary site needs to be 5 meters from the boundary walls and 20 meters from the house.

If you are equipped with the above an application needs to be sent to your local municipality at the cost of R720 per residential address. They will send an officer to verify that the site qualifies and a relevant permit will be issued. Once this has been approved the residential apiary will be set up and the hive box be placed in its new home. The hive boxes that form part of the above mentioned initiative will then be serviced once a month and honey harvested on an ‘as and when’ basis.

Residential apiary costs:

• R720 apiary permit (once off)
• R1500 complete bee box (once off)
• R300 monthly service fee which includes:
  • checking the bee health once a month
  • honey harvesting when honey flows are visible.

Please note that this will require monthly access to the apiary as inspection and hive management is imperative.

As passionate conservationists we believe that this will bring us one step closer to increasing the bee population, if you are interested please contact us at your leisure.