7/2/12

London community garden bees



A couple of days ago I got to visit these beautiful hives at the allotment (that's British for community garden) in Biggin Hill, Upper Norwood. It's about 9 miles south of central London.

My friends Pippa and Charlie (seen above with daughter Willow) have been tending a plot here for several months and weren't even aware that they share this space with about ten very healthy and active bee hives.




While I was visiting and getting a tour of the grounds, we met Melvyn (above), who's been gardening here for several years. He clued us in that just down the path, behind a small stand of trees, is Bee World. The tree divider seems like a great idea to help keep the bees from establishing a direct flight path to the garden, thus lessening collisions with the gardeners.




Everyone seems to be coexisting nicely.