Page 19 - Cornwall Issue 2_2024

NATURE

THE BEAUTY OF

BEE KEEPING

Whether you live on a plot or farm, in a townhouse or flat – the enchanting world
of beehives, honey extraction, bee courses and baked goods are all available to you.
Here are the basics to get you going.

here are specific by-laws It is important for beekeepers to register TOOLS AND TREASURES
for beekeeping, stipulated with the South African Bee Industry Beginner beekeeping courses in South
by the Metropolitan Organisation (SABIO) so that their set- Africa offer a hands-on experience
Municipality Public Health. up is in accordance with the regulation where all tools, suits and hives are
You can’t own a hive standards. This is to ensure that all bees provided to obtain the best practical
Ton your balcony in the are cared for and to prevent accidents experience. Basic tools and equipment
suburbs, for example, but you can go on or injuries to one’s neighbours. If you include a beehive box, a colony, a bee
an epic bee keeping course and tend can’t meet the beekeeping regulations queen, a bee suit, a bee brush and a
to a hive away from home. For plot and but still want to be part of the ‘magic’, smoker.
farm dwellers, here is a brief overview of join a beekeeping training course that
the current laws: will teach you how to understand bee Treat yourself and your family to the
No person may keep bees on any language, harvest honey, and obtain treasures of your hive by investing
premises unless that person is the hands-on experience in the field. in honey extraction equipment. This
holder of a permit authorising this enables making your own skincare
activity, and every beehive is situated: • Pretoria: https://www.bhive.co.za/ products and delicious baked goods.
• a minimum of five metres from any product-category/beekeeping- Have you ever tried raw honeycomb?
boundary of the premises; courses/ This is a natural product made by
• a minimum of twenty metres from any • Johannesburg and Cape Town: honey bees to store honey and pollen,
public place or building used for human https://beeware.co.za/beginner- or house their young. It consists of a
habitation or from any place used for the beekeeping-course/ series of hexagonal cells constructed
keeping of animals; and from beeswax, which generally contains
• the bees are kept in an approved • Western Cape: https://www. raw honey. It is loaded with incredible
beehive located in an area inaccessible honeywoodfarm.co.za/about/bee- nutrients and delicious to eat.
to children and animals, kept in the courses
shade at all times, and supplied with Did you know? You can purchase a
a source of drinking water within five • KwaZulu-Natal: https:// queen bee and colony to easily begin
metres of the hive. bushveldbees.co.za/training/ your bee keeping journey.

Cornwall View • Issue 2 2024 17