Home Entertainment Bargain for Flog It! Presenter : 15
boy, while Charlotte works the hive. ‘We are delighted that Dylan is showing such a strong interest’, said Charlotte. ‘He’s a calm soul. He does suffer from hay fever, so we have hopes that keeping bees and having our own honey may help him.’ Five-year-old Meredith looks like she might be developing an interest too – she couldn’t wait to try the honey I’d just brought as a token of thanks when I visited in July. And in July, Charlotte was pleased to
report that the colony has a fi ne, new laying queen building up the colony for winter.
The willow tree (above)
that provided the stakes for the apiary’s willow hedge (right)
They have started with a beautifully sited apiary with one hive surrounded by a little wildfl ower meadow and a developing willow hedge they’ve just planted as protection from the elements.
Home Entertainment for All the Family
The whole family has become involved and, ever with an eye for a bargain, Paul thinks that the outlay of about £500 has been a very good deal. He assembled their cedar National hive and paid special attention to getting good beesuits for the whole family. ‘Those purchases should last about ten years so, in terms of home entertainment, that’s great value’, he says. They are indeed learning through experience – the hard way, as Paul says, but it’s all part of the fun. Charlotte takes up the story, familiar to many new beekeepers: ‘When people at work heard we were taking up beekeeping, they wanted to taste our honey. Sadly, we won’t have any this year. The nucleus that I purchased in April swarmed at the beginning of June. I saw what I thought were queen cells but, before help arrived, half the workforce had gone! At the moment, we’re just waiting to see if the new queen has started laying’. Nonetheless, they are thoroughly enjoying their fi rst season. ‘Watching the bees is quite soporifi c. I have been amazed at how quickly a colony grows, even though the activity wasn’t hectic or frantic. They looked like they were doing it in slow motion,’ said Paul.
September 2016 Vol 98 No 9
Never having been close to beekeeping before, but with a family farming perspective, Charlotte has her own take on honey bees as animals: ‘As a farmer’s daughter, I have usually felt in control of animals, but the ways bees work as a colony is so awesome. Dealing with a colony of creatures is quite different. They are less of a commitment than our dog, but you do have to devote time to learning about them and to take your responsibility seriously – they are a special sort of commitment. ‘I think getting into beekeeping is quite intimidating for many people. I would really like to see more beekeeping groups for young people. What an experience it would be for them to see apiaries around old ramshackle barns and all sorts of places in town and country.’ Paul and Charlotte’s seven-year-old son, Dylan, is already taking an interest in the bees. Together with Paul, he acts as smoker
Beekeeping Collectables Paul’s current limited role as smoker boy
probably has a lot to do with his very busy TV presenting schedule. He has presented more than 1200 programmes. When I fi rst met him, he was fi lming BBC One’s antiques programme, Flog It!, in front of the Colossus computer at The National Museum of Computing on Bletchley Park. ‘Today is our one-thousandth edition of Flog It!’ he explained, ‘but by the time it is broadcast in six months’ time, I expect to be making programme number 1060.’ Has Paul ever come across any valuable beekeeping artefacts? Sadly, no, but this could be a cue for beekeeping collectors: ‘I would love to see some beekeeping equipment on Flog It! In all my years dealing with antiques, I have yet to see some beekeeping equipment. Seeing something from seventeenth-century beekeeping would be fantastic’.
Apimondia Gold Medal for Popular Beekeeping Journals, 2007, 2013 and 2015
www.bee-craft.com
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