Beekeepers plan buzzing educational hub

Tuesday 13 August 2019

Jersey beekeepers are planning to build an educational centre on a former agricultural dump, which it's hoped will serve as a hub for sharing expertise on how to help the island's buzzing population at a time they're "in need of all the help they can get."

The Jersey Beekeepers' Association JBKA says it would be "a modest facility comprising of a teaching classroom, laboratory and store."

Pictured: The proposed centre will be built on land at Le Boulivot on the St. Saviour/Grouville boundary. (Google Maps)

Although the field at Le Boulivot is in the green zone – where building is not usually allowed – the association hopes the Planning Committee will give it the go-ahead because not only will it be a facility that the island can be proud of, but it will help promote biodiversity.

The so-called ‘Bee Field’ was gifted to the association by its president, Robert Hogge, in memory of his late wife, Verity. It was formally opened in 2017 by John Hendrie, past President of the British Beekeepers’ Association in the presence of His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor and States Members as part of the centenary celebrations of the JBKA. 

The field was a former agricultural dump and the land remains unsuitable for any horticultural or farming activity. As a result, the JBKA are keen to restore the area into a natural haven for pollinators and wildlife. 

Pictured: The centre will be used to educate beekeepers and the public. (Riva Architects)

Members of the JBKA and wildlife groups have undertaken 'bio-blitz' surveys (a cataloguing or listing of all species in the field) to record the changes as various wildlife attraction measures are put in place. One such feature are two ponds that will provide an added habitat and attract wildlife.

Ken Healy, who heads the bee field project, said that "the creation of a Beekeeping Centre has been a long ambition of the JBKA."

"It will be a valuable island resource to train bee keepers so that they can effectively manage their bees and counter the increasing disease and predator threats. This comes at a time when our pollinators are in decline and are in need of all the help they can get," he explained.

The Jersey Beekeepers’ Association has more than 100 members. Amongst its aims are to promote beekeeping, and to educate its members and the public about the ecological importance of bees.

Bees and other island pollinators are under increasing threat from loss of habitat and increases in diseases such as varroa (a small parasitic mite that sucks the juices from bees) and American foulbrood (this has previously caused wide-spread havoc to island bee populations. It is now controlled but a further two cases of the disease were reported this year).

Pictured: The Jersey Beekeepers' Association has been active in trying to halt the spread of the Asian hornet locally. (Government of Jersey/David Walker)

Jersey’s Beekeepers’ Association has been at the forefront of recent attempts to check the spread of Asian Hornets in the island.

Together with other volunteers, they’ve been out searching for nests and developing techniques to control numbers.

It’s hoped beekeepers the world over can benefit from this so-called ‘Jersey Experience’ - the lessons the local volunteer force, which includes UK university and UK bee association members, have learned from tackling the issue in the island.