bees on allotments

not sure how much of this true but a guy on some neighbouring allotments wanted to keep bees on his plot but was told it was fine as long as he got prmission off every other plot holder and all the householders bordering the allotments of which there were many.......suffice to say he didnt bother.

Our allotments do permit them, but subject to strict conditions which include provable experience or training, membership of BBKA or similar (mainly for insurance purposes), creation of a proper barrier to stop them flying at head height, and a couple of others which escape me temporarily.

In fact, I was stung by a bee from one of our hives because the owner was away; he'd left competent people in charge but they'd run out of smokers so were dealing with them without calming them first.  It was fine for them, in their suits, but not for me.  Luckily I don't have an allergy, and they were on hand to remove the sting itself from underneath my glasses / eye, but it could have been far worse.

There will also be numbers restrictions because the allotment site will only support so many bees / hives - don't want them having to forage too far.

All that kind of stuff is mentioned in the NSALG pdf link I gave 

bees weren't mentioned on our allotment agreement so we approached the parish council who brought it to the parish council meeting and 'due to the decline in the bee population' they backed us with it, and they wrote to all the local residents and other allotment holders asking if anyone had any objections, there were none so they granted us permission.

after we had got our bees one of the neighbours suddenly decided their dog was allergic to bee stings so 'respectufully requested' via the parish council to move the hive, we 'respectfully declined' due to the detrimental effect it would have on the colony and we have been backed by the parish council on this too.

well worth asking IMO

if you do want to keep bees I would recommend seeking advice and training from the local beekeepers association,  if you become part of the local BKA and BBKA then you'll get indemnity insurance which is reassuring for others in case things do go awry.

good luck x