Another Year at Widdicombes by Shelley Glasspool

It seemed that the winter of 2021 might never end with bitter storms continuing into our early Spring. When Spring finally did appear, it was warm but wet. This is unusual for Cornwall and although us humans were disappointed with the weather, the bees were managing OK. The wet humid weather encouraged the growth of flowers and aided their production of nectar, however there was a bit of concern over the pollen. Pollen stores were extremely low in comparison to this time of year normally, perhaps it was too damp for the pollen grains to dust onto the bees as normal. We did attempt to supplement the colonies with pollen patties, although we were unsure whether the bees actually used it as they did not appear to store it in their cells. It even seemed that we experienced less swarming this Spring and I wonder if that may have been a result of low pollen stores. Without pollen, the bees cannot support the growth of new brood and so the colony stagnates in size, making them too small to swarm. By the end of Spring though, the weather finally perked up and the bees started to make good progress expanding.

 

In normal circumstances, we are used to a “June gap” where there is a natural lul in the nectar flow. However, this year we experienced an unusually short gap in the season which we felt benefitted the bees. The gap generally lasts for four weeks and in this time the colony’s food stores can become very depleted and this may lead to “robbing”. Robbing can be fatal to some colonies which are small enough to be overridden by stronger colonies. Also, the lack of nectar during the gap can result in queens coming out of lay, reducing the consumption of stores. Instead, this year, the Queens seemed to continue laying and the bees were able to continue foraging. This meant that the colonies remained fairly strong and so they were able to make the most out of the main summer nectar flow.

 

During July the UK experienced an extraordinary heat wave of which many areas, including Cornwall, saw record high temperatures for prolonged periods of time. Heatwaves can often be worrying for honey bees and their keepers, as droughts can dry up the nectar flow. Despite this, we did not see our colonies struggle too greatly, in fact, they coped surprisingly well. I wonder whether this was because our bees had plenty of stores, having  avoided the June gap.. Not only this but, we often have quite changeable weather in July, with lots of rain, making it hard for the bees to fly. Maybe this long period of good weather allowed them to continue working on the watered gardens and irrigated crops, keeping them going.

 

August also had high temperatures, but we also got good intervals of rain. This did wonders for the remaining summer flow and in particular the Bramble which was teaming with honey bees. By the end of August we had begun to remove the supers of honey ready for extraction. We aim to do this before the start of the Ivy flow in September as Ivy is hard to extract and instead the bees can use it to top up their stores in the brood box for winter.

 

It is now the end of September and we have finished removing all of the supers from the hives. Our apprentice George spent weeks extracting the honey and although we haven’t finished filtering and weighing it all, we can see we’re in for a large harvest!

This is great, as the past couple of seasons have been relatively poor for honey production and so our stocks were almost empty. There’s also something very rewarding about a good harvest, as it concludes the season and gives us a visual/physical representation of our hard work.

 

Not only was it a good season for us at Widdicombe’s this year, but I also took on another job working for a company called Pollenize! This exciting new adventure will be shared with you in my next blog. Bye for now!

A New Year at Widdicombes - Shelley Glasspool in Fuschia NZ Beesuit 2022-2023

Praying for a bountiful season for 2022 by Shelley Glasspool

Praying for a bountiful season for 2022

I would not consider myself a religious person, but I am praying for a better season this year. Whilst 2020 was a tough year with lockdowns and below average yields, 2021 turned out to be even more difficult, probably the worst beekeeping season that I have yet experienced.

In Cornwall, we can usually expect a reasonable Spring season with reliable availability of nectar and pollen allowing colonies to build up nicely. It would usually be the norm, to arrive at a site on a warm sunny day and hear the buzz of busy bees and see the sky resembling spaghetti junction. Frames would be dazzling with their mosaics of pollen filled cells and the kaleidoscope-like patterns of brood in every stage… sadly, things were not the norm this season.

The cold, dry April followed by a very wet May meant that sites were eerily quiet, and the hive entrances were almost lifeless. Inside the hives, subdued colonies were found on small patches of brood. There was little or no pollen surrounding the nests and very little nectar. The extremely dry Spring conditions meant that the flora was unable to produce the nectar needed by the bees for energy.  In turn, the bees were less able to forage for pollen and so could not provide the proteins needed to feed their young. The inclement Spring weather left colonies undersized and malnourished.

In some hives, bees were beginning to abandon their brood and move to the outer frames. It was clear that they did not have enough pollen to provide their young with the necessary protein for growth. In other colonies, where brood had not been abandoned, the bees themselves were beginning to starve. The starvation in some colonies resulted in piles of lifeless bees on the floor of their hives, sometimes even while more eggs were being laid. This was most noticeable in colonies on our outermost sites where we have more non-native colonies. Our innermost sites are populated with native colonies, as these are where we mate our queens. These sites fared a little better by curtailing their brood production to suit what the bees were actually able to bring in. The native strain, Apis mellifera mellifera, benefits from this characteristic of thriftiness in times of dearth, a trait rarely seen in foreign subspecies which have evolved in regions with more reliable weather patterns and a steady supply of nectar and pollen in the season.

Because the bees on some sites were coping with conditions fairly well, we did not recognise the crisis occurring on other sites and several colonies were lost to starvation. This was a bit of a blow but, fortunately, we did get through this period with most of our colonies intact. What was probably worse was the fact that most colonies were not in a good enough condition to take advantage of the flow, if and when it did come. We were now approaching the summer season with weak colonies and very little spare food. As a result of this, it seemed that almost none of our colonies were attempting to swarm and even those which did make queen cells, destroyed them just before they were due to hatch. The colonies were not strong enough in numbers to be able to split (swarm) successfully.

Our queen rearing and nuc-making was also affected, mainly due to the delay in getting colonies up to strength. It was a struggle to build strong enough colonies to rear the grafts and for them not to destroy them before harvesting. Nuc-making was much delayed due to the time taken to get colonies up to strength. Nucs made from non-native bees are fine for over-wintering, as by the spring the bees have been replaced by native offspring from the new queens and we can then assess the matings of the queens. For more immediate sale, though, the use of native bees is more appropriate and this became a difficult task.

Overall, although honey production was low, queen-rearing went well, and nuc-production got there eventually. On a positive note, the bees ended the season well and looked good going into winter. We found little sign of varroa damage in the colonies this year, partly due to the lack of brood production in the hives, particularly drone brood. Although we could see some varroa mites within the hives, signs of deformed wing virus (DWV) were not common. We have experimented with no varroa treatment in some apiaries over the last couple of years and results have, so far, been quite positive. We intend to extend this trial to more apiaries by withdrawing treatment from them. If successful it will help in the development of varroa tolerance in our bees.

Honey bees all over the world have very little chance of developing any sort of resilience to Varroa as long as we continue to treat them religiously. To withdraw treatment can be a risky strategy and, in the past, failure to treat has, on occasions, resulted in heavy losses. We have now had varroa, in this country, for 30 years, and quite a lot of beekeepers are reporting survival despite lack of treatment. Untreated colonies which appear healthiest in the Spring, can be monitored for varroa and hopefully used for breeding purposes.

It is important to us that we do not allow naturally occurring disadvantages and/or failures to make us despondent, but to see that it contributes to our chosen method of bee farming. Only by embracing some poor outcomes are we really allowing our honey bees to prove to us their strengths and abilities which make them the strongest and fittest. Natural selection can only occur when the bees are subject to poor conditions, disease or other problems. Although failures and losses can be disappointing, those that survive or thrive can be seen as potential breeding quality colonies and may contribute to our efforts to create better and more resilient strains.

We are praying that our efforts to rebuild after this season and our decisions to treat fewer colonies are not in vain and that we can make up for the past two seasons during the next season of 2022. Wishing everyone the best of luck for the new year and new season ahead, third time lucky, right?

by Shelley Glasspool

Show Me The Honey – BBC new beekeeping programme

An exclusive new 7 part series to give you a taste of beekeeping – showing how beekeeping has become a past-time for all the family!

The Show Me The Honey is due to air 30th September at 17.30pm (to be confirmed)

We were contacted earlier in the year and BJ Sherriff @B_J_Sherriff were asked to supply the adult Apiarist suits and and children’s Junior Apiarist suits.  The colours of the Apiarist suits were chosen – Khaki for the presenters Maddie Moate and Curtis Thompson along with different colour beekeeping suits for each individual family, Lime, Powder Blue, Sienna and Lilac.

The series will involve weekly challenges in the apiary working with live honey bees, learning how to handle the bees and ultimately create the best honey. The beekeeping families will be in Bee School learning all about honey bees from mentors Maddie and Curtis and earn the weekly golden bee prize!

Have fun following the families as they learn the ins and outs of beekeeping in this new exciting series to equal the likes of The Sewing Bee!

www.bjsherriff.com

 

Bee + B and Wellbeing in the Workplace

 

 

NATURE AND ITS POSITIVE EFFECTS ON WELLBENG  

Would you like to increase wellbeing and productivity in your workplace?

Here are just 3 current theories to explain the documented and measured benefits of nature and its positive effect on wellbeing and productivity:

 Biophilia: Humans are predisposed to be attracted to nature, given that we evolved in and with nature. It is only very recently, from an evolutionary perspective, that we have become disconnected from nature. Studies confirming this theory indicate that humans prefer nature scenes over built environments and that attraction to nature spans all cultures and all ages. Studies also indicate that time spent in nature predictably boosts wellbeing.

 

Attention Restoration: We have two kinds of attention; directed and involuntary. Directed attention requires focus and energy. This is a limited resource that gets depleted with use, leading to a negative emotional state. Involuntary attention is our default state and is restorative. Nature provides us with a rich environment of stimuli that effortlessly supports and engages our involuntary attention.

 

Stress Reduction: Exposure to a threat-free natural environment is stress reducing and therefore enhances a sense of wellbeing. Studies have supported the view that exposure to a natural environment is stress-reducing.

Being exposed to nature enhances our experience of wellbeing. This is partially due to a lack of noises, sights and other stimuli, present in our built and urban environment, that stimulate our autonomic nervous system to signal threat or danger.

It doesn’t take very long, it’s just a matter of stopping and tuning in.

Given that wellbeing relates directly to workplace productivity, this is highly relevant information for employers to know.  Add this to the fact that by keeping a few bee friendly plants, and a little home for the bees to thrive in you are making a positive contribution to the environment, it’s win win!

Ideas…

Do you have a balcony/courtyard/outside area in which you could fit a couple of plants and a small insect/bee haven?

Create your own Bee + B insect hotel::  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpau_m2OCaE

If you want to be even more creative on a grander scale as in the featured photograph then a beekeeping course is probably the way to go! Contact the British Beekeepers Association to find and Association near you https://www.bbka.org.uk/contact

Beekeeping supplies, beekeeping clothing and equipment can be viewed at www.bjsherriff.com  Home of the ClearView™ veil and the Original LongLife Apiarist beesuit and Honey Rustler Jacket.

Covid, One Year On

This time last year, Beekeepers across the country were gearing up ready for the new season, but just as things got underway, we, along with the rest of the country were thrown into lockdown! Covid-19 was spreading rapidly throughout populations across the globe, including ours, and the government instructed that everyone “stay home” to protect themselves and reduce the rate of transmission. Now, children were to be taught from home and adults were to work from home. Only “key workers” were allowed to leave their homes to attend work. As bee farmers, caring for livestock meant we were listed under key workers and so were able to continue work, but under social distancing guidelines.

Being the only key worker amongst my family and therefore already being at higher risk of exposure to the virus, I decided to volunteer as the shopper for my family’s households. This reduced my family’s risk of infection, but increased my own, so I decided to move out from my parents home and also encouraged my boss, Jo, not to attend work with me, but to shield himself. From home, Jo continued to carry out paper work, take orders for bees and bottle honey while I worked the bees in the field.

Not only was I going to be tackling the season without the guidance and help of Jo, but we were also expecting a new apprentice in April, who was intending to start as I finished my own training. As an ‘only just’ qualified bee farmer, the thought of managing the season along was a daunting, yet a somewhat exciting challenge.

With more colonies than we had ever managed before, I was hugely thankful to soon be accompanied by my boyfriend Lee, who was furloughed from his own job. As a part of my support bubble, we were able to work together and although Lee had very little knowledge or experience in bee keeping, his company and extra pair of hands were a huge aid!

 

Once again, Spring was beautifully conditioned for the bees and we were throwing on supers at a rate of knots! This continued right into swarming season which made for long and exhausting days. With fifthteen apiary sites and only two of us, we found ourselves working some twelve hours a day to keep up. To begin with, the excitement of a potentially record smashing Spring harvest, made the work load easier to cope with. However, the relentless sun was starting to have a negative affect on the season. The dry weather had now hindered the production of nectar within the local flora and we were beginning to experience a draught. Unable to forage, the bees began to eat through the honey stores causing the supers to decrease rapidly in weight. With the natural “June gap” approaching, we knew we would be unable to supply all of our colonies with syrup and so we had to sacrifice the honey for the sake of the live stock. This was a big disappointment for myself and Lee.

To top off the already challenging weeks, me and Lee were also having to endure the stress of shopping for four households during a pandemic. What with panic buyers leaving shelves bare, queues over thirty minutes long and the general concern for the situation, I can only imagine that most people can relate when I describe shopping as being one of the most stressful aspects of the pandemic!

Although tough, taking on the season without my colleagues, and shopping for my family were tasks I felt were my duty during such uncertain and scary times. Watching the news and seeing the highlights on social media, I was overwhelmed to see and hear about the millions of others volunteering across the country to support those around them. This included B.J.Sherriff, who were donating their material offcuts to be made into bags for NHS staff and also making and donating masks.

 

Continuing the season, we were now facing an unusually wet Summer. Again, with little opportunity to forage, this time due to rain, the bees continued to eat through the Spring crop. This series of unfortunate weather spells either side of the June gap, made for serious loss in honey potentials for the year. However, there was some relief when grants became available to businesses to aid them through the pandemic. We were delighted to receive a grant which enabled us to buy a second works vehicle which meant that Jo could now work on the field too, without having contact with myself and Lee. This enabled me to spend more time focussing on the Queen rearing side of the business, while Jo worked the honey sites. Shortly after, we were informed that the apprenticeships could go ahead and so we gained yet another pair of hands, in the form of our new employee, George!

Re-capping on the season, what appeared to be a great start to Spring, turned into a whirlwind of events and progressed into a challenging summer. Although honey harvests were poor, we were just about able to keep up with customer demands, using the remining honey stocks from the previous year. Our sales of Queens and nucleus were also encouraging, despite the limited time we had to produce them. Now with a full work force, we were able to prepare well for the winter and are hoping for a more positive season this year.

Not only are we hopeful for the upcoming bee season, but we also hope that the countries commitment to lockdown guidelines will make for a safer and happier year for all.

We would like to thank everyone who has done, and continue to do, their best to keep the population safe during the pandemic.

On a side note, I now realise that wearing a full Apiarist bee suit, along with a mask, gloves and boots can be quite alarming to the public who are fearing a deadly virus. I must admit, we did look like something out of an apocalyptic movie scene!!

 

 

Kate Humble wears a Khaki suit whilst beekeeping with Wye Valley Mead

In her latest series …

Escape to the Farm….

Kate goes beekeeping with Mark from Wye Valley Mead

https://ne-np.facebook.com/WyeValleyMeadery/videos/did-you-catch-us-on-escape-to-the-farm-with-kate-humble-a-few-weeks-ago-we-had-a/3379535435456300/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos

 

BEE-KEEPING

Courses will run in 2021

This bee-keeping course will teach you how to keep and care for bees in a more natural and sustainable way.

Over the course of the day you will:

  • Meet the bees: a hands on introduction to our bee colonies.
  • Learn about the natural lifecycle of honey bees: basic bee biology and ecology.
  • Being a beekeeper: how to keep bees healthy, manage and feed your bees, prevent disease and harvest honey and beeswax.
  • Find out about maintaining a sustainable relationship between bees, people and the environment.
  • Understand and learn how to choose the perfect beehive for you and your bees.

This course is perfect for non-beekeepers with plenty of practical experience in the Humble by Nature apiary.

https://www.humblebynature.com/events/bee-keeping/

Honey Bee Calendar 2021 by The Bee Team young beekeepers club

The young beekeepers from The Bee Team have produced this beautifully photographed 2021 bee calendar – perhaps the most amazing fact is that the photographer is a young lady of only eleven years of age – we think she has a great future ahead filming nature! By the way, wouldn’t you agree that the youngsters look fabulous in their Junior Apiarist Sherriff suits ♥

Please be part of the primary school young persons initiative to raise funds for their educational beekeeping club.

Please contribute generously by purchasing a calendar which you can enjoy throughout the year.

‘The Bee Team calendar marks the months of 2021 with 12 beautiful photographs taken in and around our apiary and grounds in Kendal, Cumbria. These special images were captured by our Bee Team photographer Lily, age 11 – winner of her age category for Cumbria Wildlife Trust young photographer of the year 2020. All proceeds/money raised goes towards the care of our honeybees and the continued education and learning of our children and young people at The Bee Team.

Thank you for supporting us.’

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram: BeekeepingKids

BJ Sherriff are contributing to the cause by offering free shipping when calendar purchased through us:www.bjsherriff.com

Dimensions: 30 x 21 cms

Refurbish you bee suit ready for next season

With the winter months ahead when the bees need less tending why not take advantage of our Repair and Re-veil Service.

BJ Sherriff known for the Long Life protective clothing can refurbish your garment to be as good as new  – extending a garments life for many years.

Return your garment to us including the form https://bjsherriff.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/returns_form.pdf or for a quote simply drop us an email: orders@bjsherriff.com telling us of the nature of your repair.

” after 40 years of beekeeping I’ve only managed to wear out one Sherriff’s suit! I’m enjoying the protection of the new one, in use almost every day between March and October.” regards John Capstone Valley Honey, Fife, Scotland

NB. However old your garment we shall try and restore it to its former glory – however, sometimes this may not be viable as garments will understandably get to the stage through age, wear and tear when the clothing is beyond economical recovery.

* The BJ Sherriff Beekeeper badge featured in the photograph is our original badge from the nearly 50 years ago and the garment is still being worn today!

 

What a year… A Manuka beekeeping experience – by Shelley Glasspool

What a year!… It’s been too long sinse I last sat down to write a blog and it’s hard to know where to start. I guess I’ll start with last season (2018). It was a great spring following a mild winter and things were looking great for the bees. They were large in numbers and already we were piling on the supers, which was unusual for us at this time of year. The sun was beaming each day and the flowers were blooming.  This continued and continued… and continued. Then we came to a halt.

 

With no rain for two months, we were begining to see the effects of a drought. The flowers wilted and the nectar flow stopped. Suddenly our heavy supers on top of hives became lighter and lighter and the queens even reduced their lay. Still the sun continued to shine each and every day. Although we eventually had rain, it seemed too late for our hopes of a good honey crop in 2018.  We just hoped our bees would gain enough stores to get them through the remainder of the year.

 

Our season was not disastrous, though.  We did make some honey, and we worked hard in starting up a larger scale queen production programme, which is our plan to provide me with work once I finish my apprenticeship position in 2020.  From running a couple dozen mini nucs the previous year, we created two breeding apiaries and worked up to 60 mini nucs. We did well to adapt to our new system and felt ambitious for our next and final season before I complete my three years.
As part of my BFA apprenticeship, I also get the opportunity to work abroad and gain experience from other beekeepers. I chose to take my opportunity in New Zealand, where I spent four months working for Mana Kai Honey company in the Northland of North Island. Being on the opposite side of the world and with opposite seasons, I was jammy enough to escape the English winter and swapped it for a beautiful New Zealand summer.
Beekeeping in New Zealand felt worlds apart from beekeeping in the UK. It seemed as though, everywhere you looked, there was honey for sale and bee hives in fields. No one seemed suprised when they asked what I did, not like at home. Very few people I speak to in the UK have ever met a beekeeper, never mind seen a working bee hive. In New Zealand, the people are more than accustomed to seeing trucks stacked with bee hives driving by, and keepers walking around in their suits. It was the norm. With a lush green climate, warm temperatures and just enough rain to keep the flora happy, New Zealand was pretty much the perfect country for beekeeping.
I was given a huge warm welcome into the Mana Kai team, which employed over twenty staff, including cleaners, extractors, carpenters, office staff, shop assistants and, of course, beekeepers. This was a big surprise, having spent two years working in a team of two, my boss Jo and me.  And Mana Kai was considered a “small” company in comparrsion to opposition companies!Mana Kai Honey Team
Having arrived part way into the season, the team was already in full swing, distributing supers and creating nucleuses. I was paired with Emma, herself relatively new to beekeeping, and was in charge of the new queen rearing operation. Our bosses, Bobby and Sara felt we would make a good pair, both being able to share ideas and techniques.  To begin with, our daily routine was not too dissimilar to mine at home.  Emma and I would spend a certain amount of time working on the rearing colonies and grafting from breeders, then spend the remainder of the day travelling from site to site, checking colonies for laying queens, signs of swarming and their general status. A week flew by and I felt comfotably settled into my new position.

Mana Kai Honey loaded trucks

Then things began to change as we approached the manuka season. Now my time was being shared between helping Emma through the day and then the other beekeepers during the nights. With the manuka in bud stage, the team was working hard preparing to move the hives into the mountains, down south in Taupo. Throughout the day, the boys would be out checking colonies on the farthest sites, selecting those which would be taken to the manuka and compiling them onto pallets of four hives each. Then in the evening around 7pm, several beekeepers would seperate into teams of two or more and head out in the yutes (pick up trucks).

With some sites being over an hour and a half away, we had to spread out to the smaller sites first and make our way back to the larger ones to work together.  At each of the sites, we had to close off the selected colonies, already placed together on pallets, and strap them down. Then a fork lift or an adapted tractor would be used to lift the pallets on to the yutes for us to strap them down using industrial-sized ratchet straps, slightly different to our little hive straps at home!

Each night we collected around 30 pallets which were driven back and unloaded onto a “dump” site where we re-opened them. The next day, after queen rearing, we would return to the dump site to help the boys prepare the colonies. Each colony had to be at least eight frames of brood compiled into one brood box, with a healthy laying queen. Because manuka doesn’t produce much pollen and the mountains have little or no other forage, we had to give each colony a large handfull of pollen substitute to sustain them. Finally, we applied a queen excluder, two more brood boxes (acting as supers) and a feeder.

 

This continued for the week, collecting and preparing, working an average of fifteen hours a day. Eventually it was time to take the first batch to Taupo. For this, the whole beekeeping team was needed. We met at the dump site early evening with fork lifts and HGV flat beds at the ready. A team of us would begin by closing all the three-hundred hives and tightening their straps. Then the forklift drivers loaded them onto the flat beds, where the other team shifted them into place and strapped them down to the trucks. Huge flat beds carrying hundreds of hives was one of the most spectacular things I had ever seen and they were now ready for the ten hour drive down south. There was no way I could sleep with the excitment of the past week and the thought of the next couple of days.

 

We drove through the night, with little stops until we reached another dump site. On arrival, I could see the mountains of manuka opposite the clearing where we were to distribute our hives. A huge ravine seperated us and the mountains hundreds of feet below. Before the afternoon heat, we quickly unloaded all the pallets and re-opened the hives. With the bees free to fly through the day, we went back to our temporary accommodation, to sleep and relax until the next day.

Shelley - apiary photo

Early morning, around 4am, I and the others rushed around the hundreds of colonies and once again closed their entrances and checked that they were tightly strapped down. Then we were instructed to strap groups of three pallets together with provided straps before the main operation took place. With everything prepared and sunlight just beginning to rise over the top of the mountains, we heard a whirring sound approaching.  With the warm sun burning through the mist, we saw the helicopters coming towards us.  The noise and the wind from their propellers covered us, kicking up dust and grit as they landed. With no other way into the mountain, the hives were going to have to be flown in.  As the mist was lifting, some of our team were flown out and dropped off into different areas of the mountain.

Shelley in the Apiary
The four helicopters then took turns to hovver overhead dangling an eighty foot chord to which we attached the strapped hives, to be distributed into the mountains. At each site, the hives were unhooked by the ground team and opened up. With the operation completed, we travelled back up north to repeat the process another two times until we had successfully moved all twelve hundred colonies down south and into the mountains. Here they remained for the next six weeks while the manuka was in bloom.
During that time, we stayed up north working on the remaining thousand or so colonies. Although these colonies were not strong enough to be worth moving to the manuka, they were perfectly capable of working the other “bush” flora around the surrounding area.  Emma and I worked hard rearing queens and creating nucleuses, and joined in to help the boys working the other colonies too. The days were hot and I was starting to really feel the summer heat. I thought working in the heat of a Cornwall summer could be challenging, but this was another level.  Temperatures on an average day were 27-30 degrees celcius. I was drowning in my suit.

 

New Zealand’s strict biosecurity meant that I was unable to bring my own suit from home  I hadn’t considered what my new temporary suit would be like, but never expected it to be a thicker material than my own Sheriff suit! My first suit in New Zealand was old and tattered one with loose fitting cuffs. There were even splits in my veil where the sun had made the plastic brittle. I felt very vulnerable and was happy to hear that I would soon be provided with a newer suit. At first I was blown away by its bright neon pink colour, but then slightly horrified at the even thicker material than the last suit! I found myself comparing it to my Sheriff suit at home. It was not too disimilar with a ribbed hood, although this hood was much larger and stood above and around my head rather than touch it. This was nice as air passed in and around my head, cooling me. There was only one hive tool pocket, which had me juggling at times, and the elasticated ankle cuffs meant I had to remove my boots each time I put it on or removed it. It was mainly the small things I missed, such as the thumb loops and velcro wrists.
Anyway, by the end of my stay I managed to squeeze in a few days helping to bring the hives back in from the mountains before I had to leave. Fully expecting to experience beekeeping as I had never before, I had no idea just how incredible my time in New Zealand would be and how different the beekeeping. I believe the company brought in around twenty tonnes of manuka honey that year, not including the bush honey from the north. This is an unthinkable amount of honey compared to what I’m used to at home and yet I know they are aiming to expand!
My time in New Zealand has really opened my eyes to the diversity of beekeeping, and although we don’t have the same opportunities here at home, in relation to manuka, it has highlighted the need for me to focus on our strengths which are personal to our business. The experience I have gained has encouraged me to think big and push ourselves in order to expand. Already this 2019 season, we have produced more queens and made more honey. This is due to the strength of our new rearing sites, having pulled through the winter with more mini nucs than ever before, and the exceptional weather which enabled us to fulfil our potential. We are now looking to improve the profile of our business and find new markets for our produce. I’m excited to continue building our business and honing our skills for future years to come.
I’m hugely thankful for the opportunity I had to experience beekeeping abroad, and would highly recommend others to take such oppotunities to expand their knowledge and gain friendships within their careers.

 

 

First Bee Farmers Association Apprentice of 2017 – by Shelley Glasspool

My name is Shelley and I am the first new bee keeping apprentice of 2017 in the UK.

It was never my intention to become a bee keeper, but whilst working in my local cafe I decided to ask my boss who is a beekeeper whether I could one day see his bees. Totally unaware of the scale that Jo (my boss) kept bees and also ignorant as to how bees are kept and their complexity, I was completely blown away by what I saw and learnt in just a couple of hours. Later that year Jo invited me to help out for a short period during the late summer. Again, I was astounded by the existence of these fascinating insects and from that moment on I was determined to nag Jo consistently to find a way to make working for him a possibility and surely he did.

Now, I am an Apprentice under the Bee Farmers Association who created and plan the apprenticeship criteria and I will be working alongside Jo Widdicombe for the next three years while he generously gives his time and energy to teach me the skills of bee keeping. I am hugely grateful to both the Association for their dedication to creating and running the apprenticeship scheme and to Jo for his selfless devotion to giving me an opportunity to work in my own village and in a field of work I love. As well, I thank the support and generosity of my sponsors which include Jo Hawkins (my personal sponsor), Rowse (Association sponsor) and B.J. Sherriff who have provided me with my very own, first ever bee suits!

When I was presented with my first bee suit, I genuinely could not get over how important and professional I felt and I now wear it proudly when working around my village. Not only does my suit give me a sense of belonging to the bee community (or “bee world” as I like to call it), but it is totally essential to my work and therefore vital that it is fit for purpose. I can personally say that my suit definitely meets its requirements; it is made from cotton so is very comfortable to wear, it has elasticated wrist and ankle cuffs to prevent access for bees, there are extra Velcro straps on the wrists and zippers on the ankles to further adjust the tightness which I know will come useful when the elasticity wears and/or if I require different thickness clothing/footwear under my suit; my suit is very easy to clean which makes life easier for my mum (bless her ) in the washing machine by simply un-zipping the non-washable (by machine) hood which is hand-washable; it has multiple deep pockets including hive tool pockets; the veil is surprisingly clear and easy to see through even when I wear my sunglasses!!

Overall my suit is pretty great, but the best part probably has to be the obviously made to measure large pasty pockets which suddenly make sense when I learned B.J. Sherriff were a Cornish company!

I would highly recommend Sherriff suits to any bee keeper, novice or professional! And I can’t wait to try out some other products of theirs.

 

Shelley Glasspool BFA Apprentice Blog 1