- ONBG (OxNatBees) is an informal mutual support network for beginners and experienced beeks who aspire to practise bee-centric, low intervention, and chemical-free beekeeping in Oxfordshire. To join the group and share ideas, questions, information and experiences, please use this site's Contact Us form.
Next ONBG Meeting
Saturday 9th September, Steeple Aston – Warres, TBHs, feral colonies and preparation for winter
Twitter: @OxNatBees
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Recent Blog Posts
- Lore of the Honey Bee July 30, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 15th July 2017 – a rooftop apiary July 24, 2017
- OxNatBees exhibit at RSA Motivate July 14, 2017
- ‘Inspecting’ your bees – the low-intervention way July 5, 2017
- Neonicotinoids implicated again June 29, 2017
- Summer starvation warning June 17, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 13th May 2017 – swarms and exotic hives June 7, 2017
- Bees in trees May 29, 2017
- The ‘other’ bees: Steven Falk workshop May 22, 2017
- Cob beehive – an experimental top-bar hive adaption May 5, 2017
- Adapting to foundationless frames in a National hive May 2, 2017
- The Bee Meeting: North Tawton and South Leigh April 8, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 1st April 2017 – an emergency cut-out April 4, 2017
- Spreading the Bee Buzz #11 – Starting Beekeeping March 29, 2017
- Two swarms in the same hive: an update March 22, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 12 March 2017 March 14, 2017
- Beginners start here March 2, 2017
- Angry bees February 16, 2017
- Winter forage February 8, 2017
- Calm bees February 5, 2017
Author Archives: Paul
Lore of the Honey Bee
I’ve been looking at an old bee book, The Lore of the Honey Bee by Tickner Edwardes. There’s almost nothing in it of relevance to us because he was what we’d call a conventional beekeeper, and the book was written … Continue reading
ONBG meeting, 15th July 2017 – a rooftop apiary
Eight of us met atop a building in central Oxford where Will keeps six hives, a mix of Nationals and their big brother Commercials, twenty metres above street level. He blends natural and conventional beekeeping, being treatment free, using foundationless … Continue reading
OxNatBees exhibit at RSA Motivate
Written by Alison OxNatBees was represented at RSA:Motivate, a gathering of community, citizenship and environmental activists, on Saturday 10 June at the Oxford Town Hall. Alison, Ann P and Paul set up the stall in the exuberantly baroque surroundings of … Continue reading
‘Inspecting’ your bees – the low-intervention way
All beekeepers naturally want their bees to be healthy and thriving, and periodically ‘inspect’ them to determine how they are doing. Responsible apicentric low-intervention beekeepers want to do this with a minimum disturbance to the integrity of the bee colony. … Continue reading
Posted in Inspections
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Neonicotinoids implicated again
A major new study of the impact of neonicotinoid pesticides has been published in Science. The Guardian has a good summary of the results here. Because this is the largest field trial so far, it is difficult for the pesticide … Continue reading
Summer starvation warning
The National Bee Unit has just issued a starvation alert for parts of the UK. Here in Oxfordshire, we’ve had a great start to the year, the bees have boomed, hives were heavy with stores early in the year and … Continue reading
ONBG meeting, 13th May 2017 – swarms and exotic hives
Eighteen folk met at Gareth’s apiary in West Oxfordshire, where he experiments with hive variations and populates them with free mated bees descended from the extensive population of local ferals. Gareth is a trustee of the Natural Beekeeping Trust, has … Continue reading
Posted in Apiary visits, Experimentation, Hives, Meetings, ONBG, Swarms, Warré
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