Rowcroft’s beekeepers are crowned Bees’ Needs Champions!

Meet our passionate volunteer beekeeper Alan

Here in the lush gardens of Rowcroft Hospice, our wonderful volunteer beekeepers are the bees’ knees when it comes to looking after our apiary, home to over a million bees! The work of our devoted beekeepers has a big impact at Rowcroft, generating vital funds through the sale of the delicious honey, and our honeybees also pollinate the flowers in our beautiful wildflower meadow. Here Alan, one of our dedicated beekeepers, shares why he enjoys his role so much and why he’s eager to raise awareness about a new threat to our honeybees, the Asian hornet.

The role of Rowcroft’s beekeepers

“The Rowcroft apiary has existed since the 1970s and is maintained by our volunteers who donate their time to care for our bees and harvest the honey they produce. Our volunteers come along on Wednesday or Saturday mornings throughout the year. We begin extracting honey in the autumn. Once the honey is extracted, we package it into labelled jars, which are then sold in the Rowcroft shops. The proceeds go towards supporting the hospice, and we’ve been told that our honey sells very quickly!”

Passing on beekeeping knowledge

“Our volunteers possess a range of knowledge and skills, which they share during various educational events that we run. Local schoolchildren have visited the apiary to learn about beekeeping, and we’ve also organised activities with Rowcroft’s bereavement group, Spaces for Nature. We’ve found these activities to be valuable and a lot of fun. The group get a chance to talk and get to know one another, and we’ve even hosted a honey cream tea with the Spaces for Nature group!”

Raising awareness about Asian hornets

“Asian hornets have become a serious threat to honeybees and other pollinating insects. Since these predators have become endemic in France, we’re particularly vigilant at Rowcroft’s apiary. Asian hornets prey on honeybees at an alarming rate; a single hornet can kill and eat up to 30 to 50 bees per day. Moreover, a nest of hornets can grow to as large as 8000 hornets, so you can easily imagine the devastation they can quickly cause. In some countries, farmers have had to resort to pollinating trees with paintbrushes as the local population of honeybees had been devastated by these predators.

“We are hoping to spread some awareness around this threat to our honeybees. Asian Hornet Watch is a very useful free app that can help you to learn more about these predators and you can help to detect them by reporting any suspected sightings of an Asian hornet. Hopefully by keeping an eye out for these predators we’ll be able to quickly tackle the threat they pose to our honeybees.”

The importance of honeybees

“A large percentage of our crops and natural wildlife are pollinated by honeybees, so they are a vital part of our ecosystem. Just think about all the wonderful, tasty food we eat that bees help to pollinate!”

The bountiful benefits of beekeeping

“I find beekeeping therapeutic. We’re surrounded by wonderful nature at the hospice and it’s lovely to work amongst it. Working as a voluntary beekeeper is an interesting role; once you start learning about honeybees you find that there’s more and more to learn – I’ve found it to be quite addictive!”

Helping our honeybees!

If you’d like to help protect our pollinators from the threat of Asian hornets, you can download the Asian Hornet Watch app for free for Android via Google Play and for iOS via iTunes. If you’d like to find out more about this topic you can do so via the British Beekeepers Association’s website.

Volunteer beekeeper Helen is as busy as a bee

Nestled in the hospice’s beautiful gardens in Torquay, our 25 beehives are home to over a million bees! These industrious little helpers work tirelessly to produce yummy honey that is sold to generate much-needed income for Rowcroft – last year alone they scooped an incredible £3000 for the hospice! With the help of a lottery grant, our marvellous beekeeping team is responsible for looking after our busy bees in the apiary, and keeping our little velvet friends as happy and as healthy as possible. Helen is one of our fabulous beekeeping volunteers and in this enchanting blog she reveals why she’s got a bee in her bonnet about these buzzy insects!

Learning through volunteering

“I started volunteering as a beekeeper with Rowcroft last August and I have fully immersed myself in apiary life! Rowcroft’s apiary needed volunteers and I needed more help and advice with my home apiary, so it’s been a perfect partnership.”

Helen’s beekeeping role

“My role with Rowcroft is every aspect of being a beekeeper. This spring we’ve planted polyanthus and violas all donated by Sutton Seeds, and we’ve sown wildflower seeds too to produce a floral feast that’s nectar-rich for our treasured pollinators.”

Working with local schools

“We’ve also had groups of school children to visit, to talk to them about the bees and we’re hoping to do a few more talks this year. Plus we’re in the process of setting up a beehive in the grounds of Brixham College, where beekeeping will be offered as an after-school club. The educational prospects are huge because children can learn about so many things: caring for the bees, economics, carpentry, gardening, and harvesting honey, wax and a substance called propolis that can be used to make candles and beauty products. The also learn how their actions have an impact on wildlife.”

A passion for the humble honeybee

“I love talking to people about the bees and explaining how intelligent they are and how they work as one large organism. Bees are absolutely fascinating. They work so hard yet one bee produces only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, and it takes 550 bees to make a pound of honey over two to three weeks – which we sell for £10. They are truly underpaid!

“The biggest challenge with my role is the bees themselves. You never know what mood they’re going to be in – feisty and stingy or calm and quiet!”

The importance of bees

“Bees are not just important to Rowcroft but also to our environment. We need to look after nature and I’m sure nature will look after us. If we don’t help look after our bees then we run the risk of losing so many of the nice things we eat such as strawberries, raspberries, apples and pears. Many plants would not be able to fertilise without bees and other pollinators.

“Bees and other pollinators need a diversity of forage through a season that stretches from early spring to late autumn. Gardens and parks are very important for bees, and the gardens benefit from the bees in return; the wildflower meadow at the hospice would not be so beautiful without our busy bees.”

Rowcroft’s Beekeeping Team

“The Rowcroft apiary is run by volunteers and is led by Alan and Rob who set up the apiary 7 years ago, starting with only a few hives. There is a core team 7 volunteers, but there are approximately 14 volunteers in total who turn up as and when they can. Our volunteers have a variety of experience; there are complete novices through to experienced beekeepers like Alan who has kept bees for over 10 years. Working outside in the fresh air, we’re a diverse bunch of people who come together to learn and share our knowledge of beekeeping, and we always have coffee and biscuits afterwards. The bees require a gentle hand and it’s very good for your mental health as you need to be calm and focused while you work on the hive. All in all, I love my role as a volunteer beekeeper!”