Chris’s Bee Blog or the ramblings of a would bee bee keeper.

 

The beegining.(Pedants please note deliberate spelling mistakes)

August bank holiday weekend 2014 marks the start of my new life as a beekeeper. My Abbey Funerals blog page seems to have been received much better than I had expected, especially when I ramble on about anything connected with gardens, flowers or wildlife, I thought keeping a blog about this journey might interest some. It will certainly help me to keep a record of how I ‘grow’ as a bee keeper.

Bee keeping is something I have been interested in since childhood when I would go with uncle Bill, a cousin of my Mother’s, to check his bees and collect honey. He swore you had to tell the bees everything that happened to you or they would leave. Of course he did go completely mad and shoot himself many years later but I don’t think it was connected to being a beekeeper.

My son, John, and a good friend, Mark, are both beekeepers and I think I have learned a lot by osmosis just being around them. Earlier this year John took me to an education day at his beekeepers association in Hampshire which really sparked my interest but also made me realise just how much I don’t know. I think he is going to become more mentor than son in the next few months. Both he and Mark have a good deal of experience and will be an invaluable support as I take my first baby steps in this strange world of bees.

In many ways I have been preparing for this for some time, pretty much since we moved to East Peckham in 2010 because everything I have planted in our, now very well stocked, garden is bee friendly.

At the top of the drive and tucked behind the garage is a fenced off area approximately nine feet by about six feet. A perfect home for an apiary. The gate will prevent casual visits by roaming grandchildren and keep my hives and equipment safe from intruders. The bad news is that at the moment this little gem is full to overflowing with rubbish. A broken cement mixer, bricks, bits of wood and general building detritus along with all the stuff my husband, Jim, thought would come in useful one day.

So the skip has been ordered and will be delivered tomorrow morning.

Let the adventure begin.