The BeeHolder, October 2009

I would like to wholeheartedly thank the MBKA group (and particularly the hosts) for a very welcoming and informative afternoon last Sunday (20th September) at Bryn Mawr. Diolch yn fawr !

After mistakenly arriving at Bill & Carol Gough’s ‘Old Farmhouse’ and finding it deserted (our fault) we managed to find our way to Bryn Mawr in time to join in the ‘experience’. This surpassed our expectations in terms of the friendly welcome received, the excellent ‘workshops’ - led by John Beavan, and the subsequent (and unexpected) generous feast of tea, sandwiches, cakes and conversation. We returned home even more enthusiastic about the project.

We are part of a group of people living in a small eco-village in Bishop’s Castle, who run allotments, orchard, woodland, and chickens amongst other cooperative/communal activities. Bees are high on our to-do list, and we are preparing to commence in earnest with a few hives next spring. In the meantime we will be busy acquiring the necessary equipment and enhancing our knowledge.

A couple of us have some previous (limited) experience of working with bees, but realistically it’s a clean start.

So no doubt one or two of us will be around at future apiary visits and meetings, and we will look forward to the privilege of maybe being hosts for an apiary visit in a few years’ time.

Keith Wood, Bishop’s Castle

(do I detect an interesting venue for a future open Apiary meeting??? ED )