{"id":7208,"date":"2023-04-21T11:38:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T11:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=7208"},"modified":"2023-04-21T11:38:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T11:38:46","slug":"beeing-a-beekeeper-at-imperial-college-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2023\/04\/21\/beeing-a-beekeeper-at-imperial-college-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Beeing a Beekeeper at Imperial College London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by Heiloi (Louie) Yip, MSc Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Would you believe it if I told you there are two beehives living somewhere inside Imperial College London\u2019s South Kensington campus? Would you also believe that I, the writer of this blog, also happen to be the current caretaker of these bees? You see, I am the head apiarist (beekeeper) of the Environmental Society (ESoc), and I have been looking after the two beehives inside ESoc\u2019s secret garden for the last three years of my life at Imperial. If you would like to learn more about how I became head apiarist and what the hive is like looking after thousands of bees, I\u2019ll do my best to summarise my beekeeping journey in this short blog.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Becoming a beekeeper<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even though I was (and still am) deeply interested in insects, I knew next to nothing about beekeeping when I first began my role as head apiarist at ESoc. \u00a0Since I was appointed during the peak of COVID in 2020, none of the past apiarists were present in London at the time to guide me. In short, I was blindly thrust into the job of looking after the bees! Luckily, I managed to learn most of my essential beekeeping skills on the spot, learning how to perform hive inspections and maintenance through online sources and chatting with friends. Opening the beehive at first was definitely nerve-wracking when there were bees buzzing everywhere, but I felt protected in my comfy bee suit, and quickly got used to regularly checking on the bees. And now, in a blink of an eye, I\u2019ve been beekeeping for almost three years! With my Master\u2019s degree drawing to an end this year, I am finally looking to pass on my position to a lucky student (but not before thoroughly guiding them how to keep bees!).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Challenges of beekeeping<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first thing I realised while beekeeping was just how intensive it can be sometimes. The truth is that there are many dangers that could threaten the health of a beehive: bad weather, starvation, parasites and more! I\u2019ve had to learn how\u00a0 beekeepers protect their bees from all those threats, and it\u2019s a sobering thought just how dependent the colony\u2019s wellbeing is on the beekeeper. One consequence of this heavy responsibility is that the beehives need to be regularly inspected once a week, where I check if the bees are healthy and carry out any necessary maintenance on the hive. The inspections need to happen over the spring and summer months when the bees are most active, which means I don\u2019t get summer vacations as a beekeeper!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why do I keep bees?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obviously, there must be upsides to beekeeping as I\u2019ve been doing it for so long! Not only have I harvested delicious honey from the hives every year, but I\u2019ve also enjoyed learning so much about the impressive biology of honeybees! Above all, there is something intrinsically calming about opening a beehive and checking in on the bees. Some patience is always required during inspections, mainly in avoiding rapid movements in order to keep the bees calm. Therefore, the act of slowly uncovering the hive, combined with the gentle buzzing ambience of the bees, makes the whole inspection process a relaxing and meditative experience. After a long day of work on campus, I can just pop by the beehives and inspect them as a perfect way to wind down for the day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Closing words<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If I hadn\u2019t ended up studying at Imperial, I would never have found ESoc and I probably wouldn\u2019t have become the beekeeper that I am today. I don\u2019t have much time until my current course ends, so I make sure to treasure each time I get to visit the bees. After I graduate from Imperial, I\u2019ll very likely continue beekeeping as a hobby, perhaps even open an apiary of my own!<\/p>\n<p>This story is a reminder that you can explore your unique interests as an Imperial student. With more than 300 student-led societies ranging from archery, sci-fi or caving, there\u2019s sure to be an activity you\u2019ll become invested in for the rest of your Imperial life!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Heiloi (Louie) Yip, MSc Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology Would you believe it if I told you there are two beehives living somewhere inside Imperial College London\u2019s South Kensington campus? Would you also believe that I, the writer of this blog, also happen to be the current caretaker of these bees? You see, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1636,"featured_media":7209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[58070],"class_list":["post-7208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beeing a Beekeeper at Imperial College London - Student blogs - Imperial College London<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2023\/04\/21\/beeing-a-beekeeper-at-imperial-college-london\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beeing a Beekeeper at Imperial College London - Student blogs - Imperial College London\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written by Heiloi (Louie) Yip, MSc Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology Would you believe it if I told you there are two beehives living somewhere inside Imperial College London\u2019s South Kensington campus? 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