hive & bee school

Hive

Beekeeping has long been a hobby for a select few. The Hive project started as a taster session at Dagenham Farm apiary where 48 residents, of all ages learnt the basics of traditional beekeeping and examined the tools of the trade. Each resident then had the opportunity to put on a bee suit, inspect a hive, learn to identify the different types of honeybee and taste some local honey. All this has made beekeeping more accessible.

Bee School

Bee School is a chance for residents to experience looking after bees within the borough, learning about all the different types of bees there are, the different practices and tools needed when extracting honey and creating bee friendly environments. 

At the beginning of the project, residents worked together to look after 13 bee colonies at the apiary at Dagenham Farm, meeting every Sunday to check on the hives, learn in a shared environment, build relationships and support each other while managing the hives. Their aim, as well as raising healthy honeybees and harvesting honey, was to become proficient beekeepers and eventually share their knowledge. 

There are 12,000 bees per 6 frame hive, times that by the 13 colonies, means there are now 156,000 new bees pollinating plants across the borough!

Hive - A Tomorrow Today Street Project

Hive has now developed into a more neighbourhood level project and is part of the Tomorrow Today Streets. This means you and your neighbours can become a street of beekeepers, learning and sharing the enjoyment of looking after these very important insects.

You’ll learn how to keep bees at Everyone’s Warehouse Apiary over the summer period, how to create a colony and care for them over the winter ready to move them to your street the next summer. Get in touch with Louis@weareeveryone.org