I began my beekeeping journey in Feb 2021 when I inherited some bees from an old allotment colleague who passed away. 1 colony of bees which has been rather neglected and I was on a very steep learning curve. It is not advisable to get bees before you have done a course and have some practical experience but nevertheless here I was with a hive full of bees - I had done a beekeeping course about 15 years earlier but that was little preparation for my year ahead.

I very quickly signed up to do a course with Bishops Stortford and this was invaluable together with the practical sessions on a Sat afternoon.

Nothing prepares you however for learning on the job and I spent the few months doing my own 'inspections' but with no idea what I was really looking at! Roll on a couple of months and my bees swarmed - probably more than once.

Then I offered to help catch a swarm in Eastwick - an amazing experience and I now had 2 colonies, by the end of the year that had grown to 4 which overwintered strong and well.

Year 2 was a whirlwind and my bees insisted on swarming frequently - mostly down to my lack of experience but I managed to catch most of them so colonies grew to 13, lost a couple to wasps and donated a couple to friends. My first harvest of honey was amazing I had a total of 5 supers to spin and jar up

2025: I feel I am becoming more accomplished as a beekeeper, I am now managing 12 colonies and the harvest this year has been wonderful - I'm amazed at how honey taken at different times of the year tastes and looks so different - all depending on where the bees have been foraging.