Wild Bees and Natural Beekeeping

Hello, and welcome to the Wildlife Matters podcast. In this episode, we will talk to Matt Somerville of Bekindhives, who introduces us to natural beekeeping. Many of you may be sceptical of beekeeping. While we all want to encourage and help bees and other pollinators, the world of beekeeping has several issues that very quickly turn people off from keeping bees themselves.

Wildlife Matters investigates the natural bee-keeping world after we look at what’s happening with wildlife and nature next in this week’s Wildlife Matters Nature News.

I was invited to visit Maple Farm, a local rewilding project, by its owners, Kevin and Colleen. They were hosting a Natural Beekeeping course run by Matt.

On the first day, the group made three natural bee homes from large hollowed logs and, on the second day, secured them into veteran trees at Maple Farm.

Wildlife Matters was there to witness the bee logs being hoisted into the trees at various heights, all above head level. To our amazement, honeybees arrived within minutes to inspect the new log homes. This was particularly remarkable given the day's weather conditions, which were not ideal for bees or any flying species to be actively foraging. However, bees are known for their diligence and are highly motivated to find forage and natural nests.

After all the new bee nests were installed, we had the opportunity to speak with Matt Somerville, a seasoned natural beekeeper with nearly fifteen years of experience. He has developed a unique system that involves observing wild bees, helping them survive and thrive, and bringing numerous benefits to the ecosystems they inhabit.

BeeKind Hives are on Instagram _beekindhives_

Maple Farm Rewildling Project is on Instagram maplefarm_

You can read a blog from the weekend here: https://www.charitybuddy.org/rewilding-blog/we-are-literally-buzzing

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