9 minute read
Is disability a barrier to beekeeping?
Zec Richardson, British Beekeepers Association Member, Southend-on-Sea, UK
During the summer of 1994 at every lunchtime when I was at work, I would sit outside - behind an aircraft hangar where bees had nested in an old hut that had a hole in the door. I sat close by, and some bees would land on me before going into the nest. It was then that I first became interested in bees.
My wife always said that if we had a garden over 20m long, I could have a hive (she is not the most confident with bees, wasps or anything that flies near her). When we moved into the home where we now live now (the garden is 30m long), she laughed and said “no chance” before I had said anything. Therefore, it was a shock when, one day out of the blue, she said
Accessibility
However now I am a wheelchair user and in constant pain. I have ME (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which means I suffer with physical and mental fatigue), and I was very unsure if it was even possible to start beekeeping. The National frame hive that people (in the UK) automatically think of as a bee hive was instantly out of the question: its height and the weight of the boxes would make it unmanageable for me, so I knew that it would have to be a horizontal style hive. As well as accessibility issues, there is also my health, which makes me unreliable as I do not know how I will be feeling from one hour to the next, and attempting to join a beekeeping association and/or course would be difficult. That is in addition to the question of accessibility a wheelchair user faces with every decision about attending somewhere new.
A 30m long garden puts enough distance between my bees and my wife. Everyone is happy
Images © Zec Richardson
The problem of being unable to work because of my health means that finances are not available to join an association and pay for a beekeeping course. However, I was determined that the dream of having my own hive was worth me trying everything I could to make it come true.
Luckily, there is a wealth of information available via the internet. That is if you can figure out whose opinion is the right one: I could write about any subject and publish it on my website - it does not mean I know what I am talking about! I decided that due to finances and making the hive as accessible as I could, I would have to go down the Do It Yourself (DIY) route.
I can pull my wheelchair right up to my top-bar hive and inspect the brood with ease without needing to reach forward
Images © Zec Richardson
Top-bar hives
In the beekeeping world opinions on which hive is the best will always cause disagreements, but without any doubt, the top-bar hive is the most accessible for wheelchair users. Yes, you can make or purchase a long hive that holds frames, but it is not as accessible as a top-bar hive. It is not until you use a wheelchair that you fully appreciate the issues you must face.
The shape of the top-bar hive allows me to pull right up to my hive, my legs tucked slightly under thanks to the ‘V’ shape and the hive is almost like a desktop in front of me. If I could not do that, I would be forced to reach forward and that makes tasks more difficult: it takes more energy, and I would manage only a few minutes at the hive. Our kitchen is not accessible and simple tasks become very tiring by being forced to reach forwards all the time. A long hive could be a suitable solution if a top-bar hive was not available, but I would have to approach the hive side-on, and work that way, but this could be awkward and cause more muscle fatigue.
DIY
The DIY hive was built to the perfect height and the pitched roof means that I can keep a few tools under it. And because of mental fatigue (what is known as ‘brain fog’ where thinking is like swimming through wet cement) being able to keep ‘cheat sheets’ with key points under the roof helps as well.
Taking all of this into consideration, there are still issues that mean that I will always need help - and learning to accept that you need help - is important. If you are mentoring someone with a disability, please remember to ask if they need help, rather than jumping in to assist because you think the person looks like they need help.
Carrying equipment on my lap is possible but I can guarantee that by the time I have moved from the shed to the hive, every piece on my lap will have fallen off several times and I will have wasted precious energy picking them up. And a lit smoker is certainly not something that you want on your lap! I attached our garden cart to the back of the wheelchair with a bit of string - although not ideal - it works. The neighbours’ children find it fascinating and funny watching this procession from shed to hive, the disabled train making its way over the bumpy grass.
My nice, calm colony can be inspected with just a little smoke
Images © Zec Richardson
Clothing is also something that can cause issues; I assumed that I would get a beekeeping suit: I was lying on the bed trying to get into it and when I did, once I had ‘plopped’ myself back into my wheelchair (which is never very dignified), the suit pulled too tight here and not right there, despite being a good fit. And the effort of putting the suit on used up precious energy. I decided that a jacket and veil would be an easier option, and it is!
Positives and negatives
After many decisions and experimenting, I am finally sitting in my wheelchair at the hive. The smoker is lit, I have all my tools with me, the roof is open, and I am looking at the row of top-bars. This is another plus for the top-bar hive - it gives me more time to think because even though the roof is open, bees are contained with the hive at this point.
Even though much thought and preparation went into making the hive as accessible as I could, there will always be problems and these problems could differ with every disabled person: our disabilities vary as much as the opinions of three beekeepers having a chat!
For example, once I am holding one of the bars with comb on and bees are walking all over it, I am only able to pick it up, inspect it and put it back into the hive. My hands are full, I cannot physically go anywhere, unless someone pushes me. I also found out during a ‘quick peep’ into the hive at the end of the season and yes, I made the mistake of thinking I would not need to be suited up, I discovered that a big issue of being in a wheelchair is the inability to run away! I was in shorts and a tee shirt, I cracked open the follower board at the end of the hive space. I was confident as the colony was calm and placid…. I know, at this point, all of you reading this are either laughing or shaking your heads. My previously calm colony was now, as I discovered to my peril, very defensive of their stores at the end of the season. As soon as I pulled that follower board away, I knew I had made a mistake. The hive went from a dull buzz to a roar and the bees poured out of the gap like a scene from a cartoon - and they were after me!
No way out
I am on bumpy grass not a smooth surface and any getaway will not be quick - my brain urged me to leap up and run. I wanted to close the hive but that was not an option with ‘angry’ bees everywhere and so I did all that I could and sat there and was stung. One negative point of a top-bar hive is that when I open up the gap between the follower and the row of bars, I cannot close it without crushing the bees that are now exiting and are all over the follower and top-bar next to it.
That was my first season over and this year after the snow, I saw bees flying and was confident that my colony had survived. However, there followed a cold, wet and windy couple of weeks and after that there was no activity at all. I was checking through binoculars as the ground was too wet and muddy for me to get to the hive. Access is very important, and I do not have proper all year-round access. I had to wait weeks for the ground to dry out and my fears came true, the hive was quiet and I had lost the colony. I worried that it was my inexperience: there was a lot of honey still in the hive and the dead bees showed no signs of deformity and everything looked okay. I am hoping that I manage to lure a swarm, because purchasing a nucleus of bees is financially impossible for me.
Support
I urge associations and everyone to make the world of beekeeping more accessible. Not only for people with a disability and or chronic health condition, but for those who are financially unable to become involved in beekeeping. I recognise that top-bar hives are often frowned upon but for many it really is the only hive that can be managed due to disability, poor health, or even old age. Having a top-bar hive for people wishing to become involved in beekeeping could encourage these people to begin. I finish this by thanking the beekeepers who have supported my journey into beekeeping (this has been via Twitter), and who have taken the time to answer my questions.
First published in BBKA News September 2021, whom we thank for permission to reprint here. www.bbka.org. uk/are-disabilities-barriers-to-beekeeping
Images © Zec Richardson
