The history of the old park plantation

arkston Ash Beekeepers Association where  invited to set up this apiary in 2008 by brothers Craig  and  Martin Blakey within their “Wild Life Habitat Protection Trust” at the Old park Plantation  a couple of miles south of Church Fenton.                     
 

      The infrastructure for the establishment of the apiary was financed by the Wildlife Protection Trust.

 

      Barkston Ash Beekeepers Association is a long established association, based at Church Fenton, near Tadcaster and the project was in response to the need to promote beekeeping in the area of Yorkshire between Leeds and York. The area is mainly rural but there are fewer beekeepers in the area than might be expected. Recent publicity in the media has highlighted the importance of bees in the environment to pollinate both crops and native flora. The introduction of the varroa mite into the UK in 1992 has resulted in the demise of feral honey bee colonies and therefore the health of the honey bee population is all the more dependent upon beekeepers.

   The apiary will has the following objectives

1. Training new beekeepers
2. Queen rearing and producing nuclei
3. Sharing and developing beekeeping expertise
4. Demonstrations of beekeeping to the public.

     A Committee was set up to over see the apiary. Its members are Andy Dykes, John Fuller and Greg Sharp.
 

      The apiary is situated on the south side of Old Park Plantation over looking arable land. It is   sheltered to the east, west and north, so promises to be a good site.
 

      Work started clearing the site on Saturday 1^st November 2008, and other Saturdays throughout the winter. Undergrowth had to be cut away, a high hawthorn hedge was reduced in size, trees in the way where pulled out by management using a JCB.  Eventually we had a clear area and concrete slabs laid to put stillages on.

      Robin Tomlinson supplied the timber and John Whitaker used his wood working skill to make the stillages.
 

      Our biggest problem was the road leading from the car park to the apiary site.  It had been dug out for the laying of lime stone and eventually macadam.  Once the top soil had been removed it exposed clay. When this became wet it was very difficult to walk on and we slithered all aver the place.  Wheel barrows could not be pushed and had to be towed.
 

      Those giving up their time to clear the site – apart from the Committee where:- Brian Shipley, John Whitaker, Liz Lowe plus her husband and Julia Wharrie.
 

      I went to Thorne’s and purchased national brood boxes, deep frames and supers. Shallow frames I got from National Bee Supplies of Exeter.

      John Whitaker made mesh floors and clown boards for the hives.

      John Bowes of York Beekeepers came up trumps, making us a branding iron to mark our wood work. Greg Sharp and I spent a cold evening branding wood work (fortified with a bottle of my prize winning mead).

      Brothers Craig and Mark Blakey who are behind the scheme where most generous, supplying all we asked for. They put tall posts on three side of the site and then covered them in mesh so that our bees and the public never meet.
 

      I donated one of my colonies on 14 × 12 frames and a Buckfast queen.  A demonstration was given to new beekeepers on doing a shook swarm to get the bees off my deep frames and onto 8½" frames.  On the same afternoon. John Whitaker - who had brought one of his hives to make the site look more occupied – demonstrated a Bailey Comb Change.
 

      The site then soon filled up as the 2009 beginners obtained their own bees.
 

      Two supers of honey had been harvested by the end of June and sold – putting some money back into our coffers to make up for the start up outlay.

      Extracting the honey was an ideal time to demonstrate to our new beekeepers how to uncap frames, spin the honey out and run it into tubs.

      Further demonstrations where given to beginners on treating with Apiguard to reduce varroa infestation and again in early January 2010 with oxalic acid.