Beehives for feral honey bee colonies
Return bees “to the wild“ and/or set them up in your own garden
If you want to produce honey in this time and age you must influence the swarming instinct with unnatural interventions and position honey chambers on top of the brood nest. This often leads to artificial reproduction as well as rearing and selection with a focus on profit criteria. Every colony kept with natural or near-natural methods where priority is not placed on the honey yield and that is managed as unprofessionally and autonomously as possible makes a decisive contribution to the preservation of natural and geographically contiguous bee networks and thus a contribution to biodiversity – and we all know how important that is.
So why not also set up honeybee hives on one’s property as is already common practice with wild bee hotels, bird/hornet/bat boxes? Gardens, balconies, roofs, trees etc. are ideal sites for such hives. Still existing feral bee colonies must be protected. There must be more feral bee colonies again so that the honeybee’s sustainable and natural evolution can be reactivated and safeguarded.
The Swiss Epizootic Diseases Act and Epizootic Diseases Ordinance oblige beekeepers to report their bee colonies and to subject them to the Epizootic Diseases Act. It is the beekeeper’s duty to properly maintain and care for the animals (bees) and to take the precautions required to keep them in good health (art. 59 of the Swiss Epizootic Diseases Act). Livestock owners (beekeepers) must ensure that the bees are not exposed to any risk from epizootic diseases and are obliged to immediately report the outbreak of and any phenomena raising suspicion of the presence of such diseases to the Bee Inspector (art. 11 of the Swiss Epizootic Diseases Act). American and European foulbrood are listed as diseases “to be controlled“ (art. 4) and the infestation by tracheal and varroa mites as diseases “to be monitored”. At present, there are no highly infectious and eradicable diseases for bees (yet). What is meant by “properly” has been specified by the Federal Veterinary Office and Office for Agriculture. The Swiss Federal Research Institute Agroscope with the Centre for Bee Research and the umbrella organisation Apisuisse play a central role in setting down this definition. Swissmedic tests and releases the so-called veterinary drugs which are strongly recommended for use to the beekeepers by the Cantonal Veterinary Offices. The professional beekeepers associations under the umbrella organisation Apisuisse are in charge of the beekeepers’ training.
So if you, as a private person, want to set up bee colonies in your garden, suspended from a tree, on your balcony or on the roof of your house or garage or even intend to set some up in the wild, according to the official interpretation of the Swiss Epizootic Diseases Act by the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, you are obliged to report these to the authorities. Every beehive that has been set up is considered an “apiary”, must be notified to the authorities and subjected to control.
But this should not deter private individuals from setting up bee colonies that are managed autonomously and unprofessionally! FreeTheBees is happy to provide support and assume specialist responsibility for such colonies (for example during any controls by the competent Bee Inspectorate).
And that’s how it works: Honey beekeeping for non-beekeepers (available in german, not yet translated)
Melliferous plants
Plant biodiversity is the basis for the honeybee’s welfare. In today’s day and age, biodiversity has become limited, particularly in agricultural landscapes and – as a result of intensive silviculture – in forests as well as often also in private gardens. Apart from the main nectar flow between mid-April and mid-May, there are so-called nectar dearths to which bees are extremely sensitive and negative in their reactions. Very important prerequisites for the honeybees would be:- Nectar producing plants before mid-April (before dandelions and cherry trees are in bloom)
- Nectar producing plants as of mid-May (after the fruit trees have finished blooming and after the first mowing of the meadows)
- Nectar producing plants throughout summer until late autumn
Fear of honeybees
Normally, bees are very good-natured insects. They only sting either near their nests or if they feel threatened when crushed or hit. When searching for food, the bee has nothing to defend and only stings in extreme emergencies. Around the beehive, the bee defends its brood and honey reserves, if necessary. So it is not recommended to knock on the beehive. Because the bees’ temporal and visual perception differs from that of human beings it is often already sufficient to walk around the hives slowly in order not to be perceived as a threat.
According to estimates, serious, threatening, allergic reactions are only observed in as little as 0.4 to 0.8% of the children and about 3% of the adults. Normally, the body’s reaction to the venom of these insects’ sting is a painful swelling followed by itching, which is somewhat unpleasant but not dangerous. The venom of bees and wasps but also of hornets is life threatening only after several hundred stings.
Interestingly, people have a latent fear of swarms, although in reality swarms are very docile, even if admittedly enormously awe-inspiring and impressive. A swarm has neither brood nor honey reserves to defend. The energy for building a new brood nest is scarce and not wasted with attacks for no reason. Often, you can stand in the centre of a swarm without being stung by a single bee.
Also beehives in the vicinity of houses or on balconies and roofs are not critical. Bee density already is enormously reduced at a distance of just a few metres. It is wasps that swarm on food, but normally not bees. And after the first reconnaissance flight around the house the bees will leave again because they have realised that no nectar is to be found there. Therefore, if optimally positioned, a beehive can also be placed very close to you in your own environment without disturbing you or let alone becoming a threat to you.