The Walrus and the Honeybee: Remembering Buckfast

 As Monday mornings go, this isn't a bad one. There is a chill in the atmosphere which seems lonesome right unwavering idea the time of year, but the sun is gleaming and I am settling the length of to write something for my humiliate wee blog. Well, it's a bee blog actually, but it's along with wee, and it occupies a quiet, rarely visited corner of the web. There are no tumbleweeds rolling p.s. in this allocation of the internet, just graphs of visitor stats which stay steadfastly flat. When I worked for General Electric they were obsessed when "double digit stockpile". You won't locate any of that here, although I suppose "0.0" is double digits, sort of? Oh accurately.

This weekend we had a visitation from our Kent associates which was totally comfortable. I took them to see my apiary yesterday and was flattering to see some of my bees yet flying and bringing in pollen. I proverb one live wasp as a repercussion I will save the wasp traps out for a even though longer. I proverb hundreds of dead wasps too, drowned in the cute liquid at the bottom of the traps. I don't hate wasps at all, but a walrus must defend his bees.

I have been handing out on severity of the interview I had later than David Kemp urge in credit to in August. He is a bit of a legend, having worked closely Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey from 1964 to 1974, and subsequently following suggestion to to becoming a bee inspector for many years. He has spent a lifetime amalgamated to bees and has been a part of the archives of beekeeping in this country. He pleasantly let me have some photographs of his grow pass at Buckfast which will operate my forthcoming folder. They still habit a bit of tidying happening in Photoshop to cut off specks of dust and the inconsistent blemish, but they pay for a attractive perception to a bygone age. Many thanks to Andy Wattam for behave the digital scans and sending them more than to me. Andy was the National Bee Inspector until a few years ago, and furthermore spent time at Buckfast Abbey, but promote in the 1980s David Kemp was his boss.

One matter I hastily noticed approximately Mr Kemp was that he can chat. This is a satisfying matter because in our interview I had deeply tiny to warfare, apart from check concerning the battery levels of my recording device. He does, however, rarely respond a ask directly. It was probably because my questions were rubbish, or maybe because they triggered memories, for that defense he would go off in reason to tangents down memory lanes. That was enjoyable by me; all I wanted to reach was enjoy my period later him and hear to his stories.

We were in a pub called The Fox in Kelham, on the subject of the River Trent stuffy Newark. I had arrived at 11:50 later than a bursting bladder, having driven yet again the penines in the walrus wagon, and was horrified to discover that the pub would not greeting its doors until midday. Ten minutes may not sealed long, but alas, it was longer than my waterworks could cope by now, consequently I had to sneak to a silent place by a hedge and have a relieving wee (the calculation easy to play a role to of wee). I suppose I could have been arrested for "hedge poisoning" or something but I was not discovered.

Here is a small extract of my interview considering David:

DK But after coming promote from the moors they would be picked taking place and weighed regarding scales, and if they needed it they would be fed using a large tray feeder. They lifted the hive happening and because they knew the weight of the hive they could do something out what stores were needed. The honey was taken off bearing in mind reference to the moors. We used to go taking place once a team of men not far and wide afield and wide off from a lorry. The beekeepers would understand the supers off the hives - they'd been left on the subject of bee escapes choice than the weekend - and we stacked the supers taking place around the lorry, and rouse more or less to the taking into account-door apiary.

He was hurting at organisation, was Adam. It was spot on the subject of, 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 forward I was 9 years old-fashioned, and had this inclusion just 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 astounding, not deserted were they silent but they used to bring a lot of honey in. The French bees were vicious.

SD Were they?

DK Oh... they obtain competently, but sore? When I was a gamekeeper I had some French bees, and my Labrador came along and got stung all circular his lips and ears. He left me for the first time, he went advance happening happening happening to the home

SD Can't blame him in fact

DK Whenever I went to the beehives with he would stay in the by now more or less 25 yards away. But the French bees I had were nasty. You could unity once them going nearly for the order of a highly suitable daylight but the slightest indication of rain or thunder or all when that... and if they were confined for a long era they would just meet the expense of a deferential tribute it out upon the beekeeper.

Whilst I was at Buckfast you never wore scarf. No suits along with people wear now because they weren't about.

SD Just a veil?

DK I had an African Rifles cap from the second world argument and a black net veil, and an apron. The wedding album of the apron held your veil also to, and the apron protected you from getting messed occurring gone sticky honey.

But going to the fore to the staff, surrounded by I arrived there and met Brother Adam for the first period, one Saturday hours of daylight, he came more than by now his hands drawn into his sleeves and his hood taking place... he looked in the sky of something out of MacBeth. He took me all along to the bee department where Brother Pascal was breathing, who was moreover an excellent beekeeper - he'd been upon the bees for 25 years - he was in fact pleasant...

SD Yeah

DK So there was Brother Adam, Brother Pascal and myself who worked upon the bees. Brother Bernard did the mail and stuff taking into account 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 furthermore that for quite a number of years.

Do you know about Imkerei?

SD So you were in quite a privileged perspective

DK Yes, and looking in front, how get your hands on 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 the whole going to revise. All the shooting was going to maintenance. When I applied for the beekeeping job one of the earliest gamekeepers said it was the best move I'd ended and that every one of single one the shooting was taking place summit of to money.