RISK ASSESSMENT
Honey Bee Hive Inspection
Procedure
Honey bee hive (colony) inspection at Heligan gardens. The apiary is managed by the Roseland Beekeeping Group which is a branch of Cornwall Beekeeping Association, which is in turn affiliated to the British Beekeeping Association. It should be noted that although this risk assessment has been requested by Heligan gardens, it is typical of the procedure at any apiary site.
Purpose of procedure
From early spring until the autumn it is necessary to inspect a honey bee colony ideally every 7 days. The inspection covers normal husbandry operations, swarm control and educational demonstrations
Method
The internal frames are examined one by one. The frames carry the honey comb, eggs, maturing brood and adhering bees. This does, of course involve opening the hives after subduing the colony with smoke.All operations will be supervised by suitably experienced beekeepers following recognised procedures to retain control of the bees.
Hazards
Bee stings - because of the disturbance to the colony, many bees will take to the air in the immediate vicinity of the hive and sometimes become defensive. This may result in bee stings to people near the hive.
Lifting – Some beekeeping tasks require lifting of hive boxes which can be heavy and awkward to move resulting in back strains.
Slips and trips – Whilst carrying out the procedure, there will be various pieces of kit on the ground in the immediate area of the hive. Typically this may include the hive roof, crownboard, smoker, box or trug with tools or bowl for debris. All of these present a trip hazard.
Apiaries located in a field also present the hazard of wet grass resulting in slips.
Risk
Bee stings – The risk to beekeepers or people close to the hive is high. Anyone allergic to bee stings may require medical help if stung. The risk reduces dramatically as one moves further from the hive. Most of the bees are concentrated around the hive where the disturbance to their home is occurring.
Lifting – there is medium risk of back strain when lifting boxes unaided.
Slips and trips – there is a medium risk of slips and trips when the mind is fully occupied with the bees.
Control measures
Bee stings – All beekeepers will wear suitable protective clothing. A jacket and attached veil is considered to be the minimum requirement.
It is always essential to ensure the safety of the Public.
Carry out a check to make sure there are no passers by before opening the hive.
Officers of Heligan gardens should have authority to ensure the general public withdraw to a safe distance. The recommended safe distance does not appear to be defined by law in the UK. Barnsley Beekeepers recommend 15M. The city of Ontario in Canada rules it should be 30M from a public park or recreation ground. The state of Queensland in Australia rules it should 50M, presumably because they have more room there! It seems reasonable to treat 20M as a minimum and not in the flight line of the bees.
Signs should warn the public of the presence of bee hives and in particular when hives are being worked. Anyone who is seriously allergic to bee or wasp stings will presumably carry an epipen in case of anaphylactic shock.
If bee density increases significantly above the odd bees as one would find naturally outdoors then it may be prudent to close windows and doors if one is inside a building.
An essential part of our‘Precautions’is that no bad-tempered colonies will be kept, and if any do become bad-tempered they will be dealt with by BBKA recommended operations.
All operators will carry the BBKA Public Liability Insurance which currently stands at £10 million (April 2014)
Lifting – Always test the weight before lifting properly. If it feels very heavy then either leave it or enlist the help of another beekeeper to split the load. Consider temporarily moving some of the heavier frames with stores into a spare box before performing the lift.
Slips and trips – Always wear Wellington boots or similar with a heavy tread to minimise loss of grip on wet grass or mud.
Try to minimise the number of items on the ground. Use the top of adjacent hives as temporary shelves. If lifting and moving a brood box or super, clear any items from the planned route. Tripping over carrying a full box of bees is not a good idea.
If possible, enlist again the help of a fellow beekeeper.
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