Natural Beekeeping Sanctuary, a first of its kind in London

June 7, 2011 - PRLog -- The plight of the bees has been the subject of a number of articles in the press, the causes of the current problem seem to be related to a variety of factors, pesticides, overexploitation, diseases, mites, mobile phone masts etc.   The fact is that the bees are disappearing rapidly and the genetic pool of the bees needs reinforcing.
Caroline van Issum at the helm of an enterprise London’s Buzzing (www.londonsbuzzing.co.uk ), part of a community interest company has passionately set up this venture to try to redress the situation by promoting the setting of natural bee sanctuaries and natural beekeeping practices.  The fruits of her efforts have now enabled her to set up the first Natural Beekeeping Bee Sanctuary, the first of its kind in London, with the assistance and support of Stepney City Farm  ( www.stepneycityfarm.org ) where the Sanctuary is placed.
Caroline an eccentric by nature told us “We were very fortunate to have found an institution like the Farm whose Trustees and management share our vision over the need to protect the bee and other animals, raise awareness of their importance and make this a feature that could benefit the community. The Sanctuary is located in a site that has also a Permaculture area. This in effect perfectly dovetails the sustainability aspect of both ventures.”
Caroline explained that “The philosophy behind it, is to try to let the bees develop naturally within the Sanctuary, moving away from the industrialised model of exploitation centred mainly on the maximisation of honey production. The main function and value of the bees is their role as pollinators where they carry the work that enables us to secure fruits, vegetables and other products that sustain a complex web and that is essential for our survival.  What we are trying to do is promote a balanced way of keeping bees where the main object is to sustainably maintain them and develop a mutually beneficial partnership. Of course, we will still be able to get honey from the bees but this time we will ensure that their reserves are left intact to allow them to fight diseases and survive the winter months. We will not take all their honey and short change them by giving them synthetic substitutes that do not have the natural goodness that honey provides to ensure a healthy immune defence system.”
“The aim”, Caroline explained further “is to promote awareness of the importance of the bees for the environment and our own survival. We promote natural beekeeping practices that will make this activity attractive, interesting, accessible and demystified to communities and individuals within an urban environment. We promote courses and related activities that enable us to responsibly share the benefit of natural beekeeping.”
Caroline has also placed beehives in schools and provided instructions to children and teachers to  become self sufficient natural beekeepers. Children and adults of all backgrounds and abilities (e.g  ADHD and other conditions), have always expressed great interest and these activities help them to focus on a subject that offers them immediate practical knowledge of biology, the environment conservation etc.
The natural hive building workshops have also proven to be a success in community centres with local families of all backgrounds, as this provides them with the opportunity to see the development of their natural beekeeping from the ground up, strengthening the community links by providing an identification with this activity.
Paraphrasing the words of one of the Trustees of Stepney City Farm, the Sanctuary provides  focus as well as conservation and environmental benefits. It is hoped that this initiative will be expanded to other areas and boroughs.
Please address your queries or comments to londonsbuzzing.co.uk

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Promoting tailormade and adapted permapiculture principles to suit urban conditions and facilitate the pursuit of this approach to natural beekeeping within a framework that establishes a mutually, beneficial relationship between beekeepers and bees.