One of the great pleasures that I derive from writing my book “Interviews with Beekeepers” is meeting the people that work with honey bees. Everybody that I have talked to on my travels so far clearly loves their work, and they are always willing to share their knowledge and experience with me. Bee workers must…
In preparation for my latest interview with another legend of beekeeping I decided to have a hair cut. Samli’s is a gents hairdressing establishment run by an engaging 59 year old from North Africa who I have known for about 27 years. He always shakes his customers warmly by the hand, greeting each with an…
I only have a small group of friends, most of whom really started out as my wife’s friends and I adopted them, but there is one chap who I found all by myself. He is the only person mad enough to have asked me to be the “best man” at his wedding many years ago…
The great thing about me keeping bees is that my apiary is in the beautiful Cheshire countryside. It means that I get away from the city. I don’t entirely hate cities, and apparently the particular part of Manchester where I live is supposed to be very desirable, don’t you know. However, the fact remains that…
A while ago I ordered one of those DNA test kits because I was very interested to see what they would make of my walrus heritage. I used the Genographic Project which is far from the cheapest, but I am a big fan of National Geographic and wanted to support the Genographic Legacy Fund. Some…
As Monday mornings go, this isn’t a bad one. There is a chill in the air which seems only right given the time of year, but the sun is shining and I am settling down to write something for my humble wee blog. Well, it’s a bee blog actually, but it’s also wee, and it…
Apparently we should never discuss religion, politics or money at the dinner table, or probably anywhere else. I think this must have its origins in etiquette, and if so we have the French to blame, although it is no doubt a ‘faux pas’ to even suggest such a thing. It is not polite to upset…
Image source Yesterday I attended the Autumn Cheshire Beekeepers’ Convention and Honey Show at Forest Hills Hotel in Frodsham. As usual I stayed for the two morning lectures, ate a hearty lunch fit for a walrus, and left. The speakers were excellent. It is so beneficial to go to these types of event whether one…
I am going to write about some things which I have found surprising since taking up beekeeping. It could be that I did not talk to the right people or read the right books, but for whatever reason, these are things that were either unknown to me, or maybe they just weren’t stressed strongly enough:…
Typically, when I tell somebody that I am a beekeeper I get a big smile, then I get told how wonderful it is that I’m doing my bit to save the bees, because they are really struggling at the moment aren’t they? It seems churlish to tell them that the reasons I keep bees are…