Tamsin Harris has kept bees professionally for many years at her farm in Cornwall and takes a realistic look at the pros and cons...

The idea of warm, golden honey dripping thickly onto hot toasted muffins, slathered in proper butter, appeals to us all and the best way to ensure that it’s the most delicious honey ever is to have your own hive of honey bees. Imagine if you will, the feel of the sun on your face, goldfinches and blackbirds singing their hearts out and the busy background hum of honeybees - your bees - pollinating the early emerging flowers on the gooseberries in your veg garden.

As a hobby, keeping bees is utterly absorbing. From first taking delivery of the timber hive and smelling the warm cedar and wax scenting your shed, to the sight of full, heavy frames of honeycomb waiting to be extracted at the end of the summer, beekeeping will open you to many new experiences. Your friends will marvel at your bravery (and look forward to their first share of your harvest), weather patterns and predictions will be observed avidly and planting your garden will drift to a more pollinator-friendly theme.

Joining your local beekeeping association will result in new friendships – beekeepers are very good at sharing information over a cuppa - and you’ll be floored by how many books and periodicals have been published on the subject. Once the harvest is safely gathered in and the active season is over, then comes the lure of honey shows - great fun and surprisingly competitive. Most of all, you’ll find observing and discovering the complex inner world of these amazing creatures endlessly fascinating Beekeepers do need to be committed however – bad beekeeping can do more harm than good. So, the best investment you can make is in education. Find your local association where you will most probably be able to follow a mentor for a season before you make up your mind.

Read a couple of reputable beginners’ books on practical beekeeping - and do it out of love and interest rather than the possibility of making a fortune selling honey. After all these years I’m still finding out fascinating new things about my bees. I can’t imagine not having hives of these amazing creatures around my place. They are a source of continual learning, challenge and sheer joy. * Best place to start is the British Beekeepers Association www.bbka.org.uk/learn. You’ll find lists of local associations on their website too, or through Google.

I WANT TO KEEP BEES BUT... "I don’t have a big enough garden"
Contact the secretary of your local beekeeping association and ask if anyone has offered to have some hives on their land. Quite often, householders are willing to allow a beekeeper on their land, especially when they learn that rent is traditionally paid in honey!

I WANT TO KEEP BEES BUT... "I’m afraid of bees!"
Book yourself onto a beekeeping taster day, your local association will no doubt run one or two throughout the season. That way you can experience the buzz of an open hive and see if it’s for you.

I WANT TO KEEP BEES BUT... "I haven’t got time"
On average, one or two hives will take up a couple of hours a week of your time. Obviously during the winter this will be a lot less, but during the active season, if you’re organised and have the appropriate kit ready, two hours should be the maximum length of time for hive inspections. Honey bee colonies do need to be inspected every 7 days from April through to the beginning of July. After that the inspections are fewer, although it is still necessary to check bee health and food stores.