When I was a small cog in “the machine1,” stuck in the “rat race2,” and attempting to “climb the greasy pole3,” I often felt disoriented and confused. Who knows whether my sense of being a piece in the wrong jigsaw puzzle contributed to my slide into alcohol abuse—it certainly can’t have helped. The world didn’t … Read more
How do we learn the noble art of beekeeping? I suppose it’s a combination of practice and theory, bolstered by reading books, chatting to others, attending courses and so on. I doubt that I am the only beekeeper who occasionally suffers from the urge to ‘meddle’ — I try things out to see if they … Read more
I used to think that 60 yrs is quite old, but now that 2023 has arrived – the year in which I will have been alive for six decades (hopefully) – I’m thinking that it’s more ‘late middle-aged’ than old. My hair still looks mostly dark, in the right light, although the beard is grey. … Read more
Beekeeping is Local Maybe I am naive or just positive and optimistic, but I’m sure that to many people I have some dangerously liberal ideas. For a start, I deliberately travelled all over the place to meet experienced bee farmers to see what I could learn. Then I wrote a book about the inspirational people … Read more
I have been lucky enough to meet, interview, hang out with and in some cases work with people who have kept bees for most of their lives, and who are at the top of their game. Surely even I, a humble walrus, can do nothing but benefit from such experience? Recently I have been reflecting … Read more