A Little More Room for Wild Bees

When people think of bees, they often picture honeybees first. That makes sense – they live in large colonies, make honey and are the bees most people associate with beekeeping.

But honeybees are only part of the story.

Here at Jon the Beekeeper, we’re lucky to share the land with plenty of other pollinators too. We regularly see bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, butterflies and all sorts of other insects making use of the flowers, hedgerows, trees and rougher corners around us.

That matters to me.

I started beekeeping because I was fascinated by honeybees, but the more I learn, the more I realise that good beekeeping is not just about looking after the hives. It is also about paying attention to the wider habitat around them.

We’re already lucky to have natural habitats on the land, from rougher grass and hedgerows to quiet corners where insects can shelter. To complement that, Steph, Ben and I have put up six wild bee and insect hotels in different spots around the fields and garden.

They are simple little wooden houses, filled with tubes, natural materials and small spaces where some solitary bees and other insects may be able to shelter or nest. They are not a magic fix, and they are not a replacement for good habitat, but they are one small step towards making the land more welcoming for a wider range of insects.

For me, that is what it is all about – balance.

Honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees and other pollinators all share the same landscape. They each play their own part, and they each need food, shelter and safe places to nest. The aim here is not just to keep hives and produce honey, but to look after the space around them as thoughtfully as we can.

Alongside the bee hotels, we’re also looking at more wildflowers, longer grass in the right places and ways to make better use of the field margins and quieter corners of the land.

It is still early days, and I’m still learning all the time. But that is part of the journey.

Jon the Beekeeper started with a few hives and a love of honeybees. It is becoming something a little bigger than that – a small honey business, a family project and a chance to make our bit of Norfolk a better place for bees and other pollinators.

Hopefully, the new bee hotels will be used over time. If they are, we’ll be keeping an eye out for sealed tubes, visiting bees and any signs that they are becoming part of the wider habitat here.

Because good honey starts with healthy bees – and healthy bees need a healthy landscape around them.