You might not have been aware of them before but, come Springtime, hundreds of thousands of honey bees will be hard at work in Glasgow with hives to be found everywhere from the highest inner-city rooftops to humble back gardens.
Edward O’Brien, the founder of Ed's Bees, is the man who keeps it all buzzing.
After deciding to turn his lifelong hobby into a small business, he now tends to a staggering number of bee colonies and stocks grocers all over the city with a selection of artisan honey.
He said: “I’ve kept bees for a very long time.
“I live in a ground floor home in Pollokshields and I keep hives there.
"The neighbours never seemed to mind and, in fact, people would come along just to see them.
“I took an early retirement deal and decided to expand on Ed’s Bees.
“A few friends started to say that they would love to have bees in their back garden and they were kind enough to host them.
“It all got started from there really.”
It didn’t take long for the back garden project to take wing as Ed’s years of expertise saw him install hives all over the city and start to cultivate them for their honey.
To name but a few unlikely locations for his 'girls', Ed has since kept bees on the roof of the Blythswood Square hotel, in the back lanes near the Viper nightclub, the Ovo Hydro and most recently the new Barclay's Bank building by the Clyde.
It might seem a strange scene to imagine, given that we usually associate with bees with grassy countryside, but Ed says his bees thrive in their urban homes.
He said: “Glasgow is a great place to keep bees, it’s called the Dear Green place for a reason.
“Aside from numerous parks, there are railway lines, riverbanks and canals in the city which are full of plants for them to forage in.
“The city is naturally warmer than the countryside so they like being here.
“Each hive has about 60,000 bees and I’m looking after about 70 colonies. Which would mean that I keep an estimate of around 420,000 bees in the city.
“I have friends who keep bees in the countryside that produce 30 pounds of honey whereas mine produce 100 pounds. It's a vast difference.
“Because there are a variety of places and plants for the bees to forage, they will be stronger.
“Stronger bees make more honey.”
It's good to know that Ed's hardworking bees are in good health, and we can't help but wonder if stronger bees could make for stronger human immune systems?
An increasingly popular theory amongst hayfever sufferers is that raw and natural honey can be used as a wonder ‘cure’ for allergies.
Although he remains on the fence with the idea, Ed is enthusiastic about the benefits of consuming honey that is kept in an unpasteurised and roughly filtered form, like his.
He said: “A lot of people have come to me saying that they have heard natural honey can be a cure for hay fever.
“I am a little dubious because I believe that hay fever comes from an allergy to grass pollen.
“However, if it is the case that people are allergic to tree pollen, then there will be small traces of that in the honey which will allow people to build up a resistance.
“That’s what I understand the thinking behind the theory to be.
“Hayfever aside there are plenty of supposed health benefits to raw honey.
"When you have a cold, people will often tell you to take honey with hot water and lemon.”
As well as having rightfully earned a reputation as one of Glasgow’s finest small scale producers over the years, Ed is a member of the Glasgow Beekeepers Association and works with younger members to encourage the next generation of beekeepers.
Given the worrying prospect of climate change, it seems that education on conservation and providing a stable environment for bees to prosper is vital to their survival.
Ed said: “People are very fond of bees and they realise how important they are.
“I’m no scientist, but from my experience, I would argue that honeybees are fine, but it’s their natural environment in the countryside that’s at risk.
“Keeping bees in the city allows me to regenerate them and pass them on to other beekeepers.
“In my mind, the very best thing that you can do to protect them is to plant bee-friendly plants which will offer them space to forage.
“Right now, it’s the quiet season for honey, but come April I’ll be out tending to the hives once a week.
“To be honest, I’m desperate to get back to them and see how they’re all doing."
When in season, Ed's Bees honey can be found at stockists such as George Mewes, Locavore and Starter Culter.
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