David Williamson aka the Bearded Beekeeper, is a Yorkshire beekeeper, with over 20 colonies.
“What got me into Beekeeping?
I was studying ‘Change’ and how people in general reacted to it, especially when they perceived that it was enforced upon them.
During a discussion about change with a professor, I was advised that I should research superorganisms, like Ants and Bees, to gain a better understanding of change and how even tiny creatures cope with it, and that like the Ants and Bees people often deal with change on a daily basis without conciously thinking about it.
It was during this reseach that I found out that Honey Bees around the world were in trouble, and many colonies were dying out each year, and that we should be going out of our way to help them by doing whatever we can to increase their survival chances.
I then wondered if there was anything that I could do myself to help this plight of the Honey Bee, so I looked up the local BKA, found out that they often did beekeeping courses, and enrolled upon one.
Soon after I bought a couple of WBC hives and a couple of nucs full of bees, and the rest is as they say history, but that is not quite true, for me it was a new beginning.
So, going back to my original reason for learning about bees, in order “to gain a better understanding of change”; have my honey bees actually taught me anything about change? The answer is yes, humility!
I have observed my bees hard at work in all weathers, and the only time that they are not ‘buzzing’ around is when it is too cold for them; they are definitely not lazy.
And then there are the facts, like that a colony of honey bees can produce around 60 lbs of honey in one season, and that an individual honey bee only contributes around 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey to that amount in its lifetime, all done without any thought whatsoever for itself, it puts a new meaning into the word insignificant.
So, if one honey bee can do so much just by working with others, then maybe I can do something to help to save the honey bee by working with others, and by doing my bit, no matter how insignificant that bit may seem to be on it’s own.
I have grown to love the relaxing nature of beekeeping and of course my Honey Bees; and even when I get stung now and again I know it is because I did something wrong; my bees in general are good natured, hard working honey making wonders, and I am fascinated by them, I am so pleased that I got into beekeeping and provided some of them with homes ‘Beehives’.”
