More city dwellers in UK keeping bees, survey shows

Rising numbers of people in cities are keeping bees, the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) said yesterday as it revealed the first nationwide survey of its members’ honey harvests.

The survey found that each hive produced on average 32lb of honey, worth around £130 to the beekeeper, but the value to the wider economy of pollination by honeybees was worth more than £600 per hive.The BBKA said its members had increased the number of bee colonies by 50 per cent this year – up from 80,000 to 120,000 since March.

The number of members of the BBKA has also swelled, with a near 100 per cent rise over the last three years to just under 20,000 amid a growing interest in the fortunes of bees and in beekeeping.

The rise is particularly noticeable in towns and cities, with almost a third (31 per cent) of new beekeepers based in urban areas – compared to urban beekeepers overall making up less than a quarter (23 per cent) of BBKA members.

Across towns and the countryside, two-fifths of beekeepers which responded to the survey had taken up the craft in the last two years, the BBKA said. Speaking at the opening of the National Honey Show, BBKA president Martin Smith said: “It is extremely encouraging that our members have produced more than three and a half million jars of honey this summer – that’s more than a third of all the nation’s home-produced honey.”

There were substantial regional variations in honey yields, with the highest yields in the souteast, which were 10 per cent above average, and the lowest in the northwest, which were 34 per cent below average.

Mr Smith said that this summer, the nation’s beekeepers increased their number of hives by 50 per cent but 44 per cent of beekeepers kept just one or two hives, reflecting the increase in new keepers.