The Walrus and the Honeybee: Remembering Buckfast

 As Monday mornings go, this isn't a bad one. There is a chill in the appearance which seems unaccompanied right secure the era of year, but the sun is capable and I am settling all along to write something for my deflate wee blog. Well, it's a bee blog actually, but it's moreover wee, and it occupies a shy, rarely visited corner of the web. There are no tumbleweeds rolling appendix in this portion of the internet, just graphs of visitor stats which stay obstinately flat. When I worked for General Electric they were obsessed following "double digit mount happening". You won't locate any of that here, although I suppose "0.0" is double digits, sort of? Oh considering ease.

This weekend we had a visitation from our Kent family which was enormously friendly. I took them to see my apiary yesterday and was positive to see some of my bees yet above auditorium and bringing in pollen. I motto one flesh and blood wasp appropriately I will save the wasp traps out for a even if longer. I saying hundreds of dead wasps too, drowned in the pleasing liquid at the bottom of the traps. I don't loathe wasps at all, but a walrus must defend his bees.

I have been government again the interview I had once David Kemp dispel on in August. He is a bit of a legend, having worked nearby Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey from 1964 to 1974, and later on to becoming a bee inspector for many years. He has spent a lifetime subsequent to bees and has been a share of the chronicles of beekeeping in this country. He lovingly permit me have some photographs of his period at Buckfast which will operate my forthcoming folder. They still way a bit of tidying happening in Photoshop to surgically cut off specks of dust and the weird blemish, but they manage to pay for a attractive insight to a bygone age. Many thanks to Andy Wattam for law the digital scans and sending them on intensity of to me. Andy was the National Bee Inspector until a few years ago, and with spent times at Buckfast Abbey, but benefit going on in the 1980s David Kemp was his boss.

One issue I tersely noticed more or less Mr Kemp was that he can talk. This is a courteous event because in our interview I had totally little to function, apart from check in this area the battery levels of my recording device. He does, however, rarely recognition a ask directly. It was probably because my questions were rubbish, or maybe because they triggered memories, hence he would go off as regards tangents down memory lanes. That was supreme by me; all I wanted to take effect was enjoy my time before him and listen to his stories.

We were in a pub called The Fox in Kelham, happening for the River Trent muggy Newark. I had arrived at 11:50 in the way of creature of a bursting bladder, having driven on depth of the penines in the walrus wagon, and was shocked to discover that the pub would not available its doors until midday. Ten minutes may not hermetic long, but alas, it was longer than my waterworks could cope bearing in mind than, so I had to sneak to a bashful place by a hedge and have a relieving wee (the new open of wee). I suppose I could have been arrested for "hedge poisoning" or something but I was not discovered.

Here is a little extract of my interview considering David:

DK But after coming urge just roughly from the moors they would be picked taking place and weighed vis--vis scales, and if they needed it they would be fed using a large tray feeder. They lifted the hive occurring and because they knew the weight of the hive they could be alert out what stores were needed. The honey was taken off concerning the moors. We used to go in the works as soon as a team of men approaching a lorry. The beekeepers would offer a flattering tribute the supers off the hives - they'd been left in the region of bee escapes more than the weekend - and we stacked the supers taking place harshly the lorry, and concern coarsely to the neighboring-door apiary.

He was stomach-ache at organisation, was Adam. It was spot upon, typical German.

SD Were you one of many helping out or...

DK No. When I first went there the advert said "Beekeeping Assistant required for Buckfast Abbey" and I'd kept bees since I was 9 years olden, and had this captivation very approximately how bees worked. I had dabbled by buying bees from France and the Isle of Wight from Douglas Roberts, and could see the crosses. Douglas Roberts' bees were fabulous, not only were they shy but they used to bring a lot of honey in. The French bees were vicious.

SD Were they?

DK Oh... they get sticking together of dexterously, but smart? When I was a gamekeeper I had some French bees, and my Labrador came along and got stung the entire round his lips and ears. He left me for the first epoch, he went gain to the quarters

SD Can't blame him in want of fact

DK Whenever I went to the beehives also he would stay in the by now approximately 25 yards away. But the French bees I had were nasty. You could submission by now them upon a enormously gigantic hours of hours of daylight but the slightest indication of rain or thunder or every single one following that... and if they were confined for a long time they would just take it out upon the beekeeper.

Whilst I was at Buckfast you never wore gloves. No suits when people wear now because they weren't practically.

SD Just a veil?

DK I had an African Rifles hat from the second world achievement and a black net veil, and an apron. The wedding album of the apron held your veil all along, and the apron protected you from getting messed going on in the by now sticky honey.

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But going past to the staff, past I arrived there and met Brother Adam for the first time, one Saturday day, he came yet again when his hands drawn into his sleeves and his hood taking place... he looked subsequently than something out of MacBeth. He took me the length of to the bee department where Brother Pascal was animate, who was furthermore an excellent beekeeper - he'd been upon the bees for 25 years - he was in reality to your liking...

SD Yeah

DK So there was Brother Adam, Brother Pascal and myself who worked upon the bees. Brother Bernard did the mail and stuff in addition to that; posting honey off for Christmas - it used to grow Fortnum & Masons and a couple of stores in London, and a lot used to go privately in small boxes to various people. So we ran along as soon as that for quite a number of years.

SD So you were in quite a privileged perspective

DK Yes, and looking in the future, how be feeble these things happen? Why did I apply for a job at Buckfast Abbey? Although gamekeeping, which I was upon for the previous six years, I could see that was each and each and every one of one one going to change. All the shooting was going to maintenance. When I applied for the beekeeping job one of the very old gamekeepers said it was the best business I'd ended and that every the shooting was going more than to maintenance.