My "home" apiary is on my allotment.  It is in a corner of the site and is
next to a pony paddock.  I have also gone through the hedge and (with
permission) have had bees on the adjacent railway embankment since 1984.
Originally I asked the Parish Council for permission to keep bees on the
allotment and after consulting the runes they decided beekeeping was
"horticultural" and therefore permissible. I didn't know it then, but one of
the councillors with her husband ran nearly 100 hives at one time.  The only
complaint I have received from other allotment holders was that my bees
weren't doing a good enough job on their beans.  When I became Parish Clerk I
took the precaution of alloting myself also the next door allotment as a
"spacer" between neighbours. A son of the beekeeping councillor (now dead)
has the next allotment down.  I keep only one or two colonies on that site
and they are well screened.  The highly visible WBC between my shed and
greenhouse ( but not too close) is merely a frightener for raiders and a
sacrificable fuel dump for my petrol driven gardening tools.

A chap I know keeps his bees without permission on his allotment on the Isle
of Portland in a roofless shed.  He planted a cupressus hedge next to the
path.  As a howling gale is considered a quiet day on Portland they probably
appreciate the extra shelter.  His neighbours obviously know about it and
don't complain. They just take a break when he is working his bees.

Chris Slade