Ridgeway Bees
Passionate about all things honey and bee
#beehappyhoney #savethebees #beeinformed
Ridgeway Bees is a family business based in Wantage, Oxfordshire. We sell the bees surplus honey and our handmade beeswax and honey infused products.
Saving the bees is critical. Being a beekeeper, I am happy to collect swarms of honey bees from gardens in Wantage and the surrounding villages and towns throughout the Vale of the White Horse.
Education - a beehive is a science class in a box. Our science and education programs build environmental awareness by teaching children and adults about the lives of bees, the dire consequences of bee population collapse, and how we can act positively for bees and their natural environment. For more information or to ask about booking me for a class session (child or adult) please drop me an email.
New for 2024,
This year we concentrate on protecting the bees, safe bee removal from gardens, public places, buildings etc.
Exciting development projects continue with HMP and other corporates.
Various pop-up spots at Millets Farm throughout the spring and summer.
Continuing my education by supporting commercial beekeeping efforts with 800+ hives in Gloucester.
Products and Services
Swarm Collection
Honey
Beeswax Products
Education
Can you tell the difference between a honey bee, a wasp and a bumble bee?
What honey bees do and how we can help them
Bees pollinate a third of everything we eat
Most bees are pollinators. They eat pollen and nectar from flowers. When the pollen sticks to their bodies, it gets transferred between the flowers they visit. This fertilises the plants in the process, allowing them to reproduce, and grow fruits and seeds. This process is called pollination. Insects, like bees, that transfer pollen between plants are known as pollinators.
84% of crops grown for consumption need bees to pollinate them!
Some crops, like raspberries, apples and pears, particularly need insect pollination to produce good yields of high quality fruit. Honey bees are the only bee capable of large scale natural pollination in early spring.
Imagine how different our beautiful landscape would look
If pollinators went into steep decline, our countryside would be a less beautiful place as
they are essential for biodiversity and our wider environment. They maintain the diversity of wild flowers and support healthy ecosystems, particularly by helping plants to produce fruits and seeds which birds and other animals rely on.
Plant bee friendly flowers in your garden
Aim for a good variety of pollen and nectar rich flowers that have different flower shapes and a range of flowering periods from early spring to late summer and even throughout the winter if you can.
Choose winter and early spring flowering trees such as apple, wild cherry, willow and hazel.
There are lots of fabulous flower bomb making videos on YouTube. We always have fun making them as a key part of our education programmes.
There is always so much more you can do...
Make a bee watering station - add a little sugar to the water to help tired bees get back on their feet. Add marbles or pebbles to allow the bees to land on safely without drowning in an open expance of water.
Dont use pesticides - Common insecticides containing neonicotinoids (thiacloprid and acetamiprid) kill bees! They are still approved for home and garden use and are available today at most garden centres and DIY shops. Read the label and please avoid using them.
Make a bee house - Create insect houses in your garden to provide nesting sites for solitary bees and insects. Different bee species require different habitats.
2022 looks like this:
- Charity - again, charity work is one of the key focuses for 2022. I will be working with Anna and her team at Maymessy. Growing the apiary to two hives which I will continue to manage, an exciting project.
- Expansion - 8 new hives with 5 solid colonies ready for splitting in early Mays at the new South apiary on Manor Road.
- The Willows - Education centre for beekeeping experience afternoons throughout the summer.
- The Greyhound - Letcomb Regis - supplying Chef Martin with honey for his Ridgeway Bees Honey Inspired dessert.
- Commercial - continuing the journey of learning commercial beekeeping with EasyBee Products in Cheltenham with over 800 hives to manage.
- Farmers markets -
- Wantage Artisan Markets - follow @wantagemarkets on Facebook for the dates
A little bit about me
A girl who keeps bees
#beeconnected
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Ridgeway Bees Blog
