We are asked quite often how much it would cost to have a few hives on some lands, either on public or private grounds.
Well, unless you wish to have your own beehives and you want us to take care of them, it is actually the other way round. But we will not pay you to set our hives on your lands! The bees will.
It's an old tradition, dated back from centuries ago. When you are hosting hives, there is no exchange of money. The honeybees will "pay" the rent in honey and depending on the beekeeper, it can be a jar per harvest, per hive or per harvested hive. It all depends on how much the bees can produce. Some years, the harvest will be poor, and so both the landlord and the beekeeper will get little honey.
We can find traces of "honey payment" back in the 7th century in England, but it is extremely difficult to find out where the tradition comes from.
At Raw Mellifera, our honeybees are in 7 different locations, from West-Harptree, south of Bristol to Berwick-Bassett on the edge of the Avebury's circle of stone.
Years after years, the number of colonies is growing, so we are always on the hunt to find new location.....and the bees will take care of the rent!
So if you would like to host beehives, in the area pictured above, feel free to contact us and we will give you more details!
Bee happy!
Christophe