MISSION

Finsbury Park Beehouse

Finsbury Park Beehouse

This Project began on 4th July 2005. The building was designed by the HBC design team and also project managed by them from inception to completion, with all work done by volunteers drawn from our core members as well as members of the local community.

The site consists of an old greenhouse nursery currently undergoing a regeneration phase and run by the Finsbury Park Horticultural Project - a division of Metropolitan Housing Trust. Fred Alston is the manager of the site.

As part of the regeneration plan it was decided to install a beehouse which has the capacity to fully shelter up to 16 individual bee hives inside offering protection from the elements.

An environmental audit carried out through the Summer of 2004 revealed that the Finsbury Park area is severley lacking in any significant number of honey bees. This was an important finding as honey bees are responsible for pollinating the vast majority of plants and trees in the ecosystem of the area.

After consultation with MHT and the Finsbury Park authorities a design was created which allows full access for training school children and disabled people in the craft of beekeeping - two groups previously unable to learn such a task due to the heavy lifting involved with traditional bee hive designs.

As with several other previous HBC projects, the structure was to be built following Walter Segal design principles. Hence it is a raised structure which sits on 9 concrete slabs to allow efficient ventilation whilst restricting the use of concrete to the bare minimum.

The main structure is made up of 4 x 3' posts with 2" pine cladding. All wood was precut offsite in a factory to eradicate any wasteage during the build. The only illumination comes from two large perspex panes set in the roof for maximum daylight coverage. A solar panel charging a battery was also considered necessary to provide additional light during the dark winter months.