About Bees'n'Beans
A warm welcome to our website. We are a couple - Sue and Mike - who have re-shaped our lives and are fulfilling a long-term desire to become self-employed while doing something we enjoy and believe in.
Mike is a bee-keeper and has been involved in bees since the age of 12. He’s been allotment gardening for 50 years. Sue comes from a family of gardeners and has about 6 years of gardening experience, both vegetables and flowers. She's always looking at gardening catalogues. We met at our local allotment and found that we have a lot in common in terms of our approach to gardening and philosophy of life. Mike is now retired and is looking forward to sharing his love of bee-keeping with others and doing more gardening.
Bees’n’Beans is about providing a first-class service, no matter what we do i.e. work done to a standard not to a price. For example, our bee-keeping school; the aim of which is people enjoying learning about bee-keeping rather than being talked down to.
We also aim to be as petrol-free as possible. We use scythes and hand-mowers instead of strimmers. This is why we don’t work to a strict time-table when gardening; we don’t rush in to a job and rush out.
You’ll find not just information about our business on this site but also information about bees & honey, chicken-keeping, gardening and other activities revolving around natural living.
Feel free to poke around and explore all the nooks’n’crannies.
We want you to contact us with your needs and ideas. We are always interested in talking to people and exchanging emails.
Once again - welcome!
Sue'n'Mike
Taster sessions - for families and friends
We will be running taster sessions, by appointment, we can introduce you or your whole family to the delight of a bee hive. With proper protective clothing and our supervision you will have a unique experience and we hope you will be inspired by our bees!
Call 07773 201439 to make arrangements with us.
Bee-Keeping Classes
Unless otherwise stated courses are based at Forster Road Allotments Community Building (near Elmer’s End Station.) See map below or go directly to Multimap.
Gardening and Pruning Services
We absolutely love to garden. We take great pride in what we do and are always trying to learn new things.
Bees'n'Beans gardening services include:
Regular Maintenance - Bi-weekly visits to keep your garden looking great throughout the spring, summer and autumn. We mow lawns, maintain flower beds, put in bedding, bury bulbs, water, maintain shrubs and trees, prune, weed, clean ponds - you name it! We generally make two-hour visits.
Help to Grow Your Own - Let us start a vegetable patch for you. We'll can also help maintain it if you find you need some help or advice.
Garden Design and Make-Over - A cost-effective, informal design and planting service that won't blow your budget. We'll also give you a great deal on plants and labour.
One-off Blitzes - If you just have too much to do or need a helping-hand with a special project. 
Some of our general policies about our gardening: We don’t believe in standing around talking or drinking coffee; we do this in our own time after we have finished. If we are rained off we will phone or e-mail and arrange another time, not just leave you guessing. Next, we prefer to work together and charge at a rate which reflects that you get two hours work for every hour we are there.
Please call us for a free estimate or a chat about your gardening needs.
Fruit-Tree Pruning
We studied pruning with Peter Barwick at Blackmoor Nurseries and, after a few years of pruning our (approximately) 50 trees, decided to offer this service professionally. We love pruning and take care to preserve the tree for many years to come. It is beneficial to have your fruit trees pruned every year, and the tree rewards you with larger fruit and a reliable crop. Please contact us for a free estimate.
Time to Prune
The time to prune depends on what kind of tree it is:
February/March - Apple, Pear, Quince
September/October - Plum, Greengage, Cherry, Peach
