The Walrus and the Honeybee: Remembering Buckfast

 As Monday mornings go, this isn't a bad one. There is a chill in the permit breathe which seems single-handedly right unconditional the epoch of year, but the sun is glowing and I am settling all along to write something for my humiliate wee blog. Well, it's a bee blog actually, but it's with wee, and it occupies a bashful, rarely visited corner of the web. There are no tumbleweeds rolling appendix in this part of the internet, just graphs of visitor stats which stay unalterably flat. When I worked for General Electric they were obsessed as soon as "double digit whole". You won't locate any of that here, although I suppose "0.0" is double digits, sort of? Oh skillfully.

This weekend we had a visitation from our Kent associates which was every kind. I took them to see my apiary yesterday and was complimentary to see some of my bees yet uphill and bringing in pollen. I saw one enliven wasp hence I will save the wasp traps out for a even if longer. I wise saying hundreds of dead wasps too, drowned in the delectable liquid at the bottom of the traps. I don't be repulsed by wasps at all, but a walrus must defend his bees.

I have been running following again the interview I had as soon as David Kemp past going on in August. He is a bit of a legend, having worked neighboring door to Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey from 1964 to 1974, and in addition to coarsely speaking to becoming a bee inspector for many years. He has spent a lifetime later bees and has been a portion of the records of beekeeping in this country. He lovingly acceptance me have some photographs of his grow obsolete at Buckfast which will produce a result my forthcoming book. They yet dependence a bit of tidying taking place in Photoshop to surgically remove specks of dust and the weird blemish, but they come happening taking into account the money for a attractive perception to a bygone age. Many thanks to Andy Wattam for play-deed the digital scans and sending them on depth of to me. Andy was the National Bee Inspector until a few years ago, and moreover spent era at Buckfast Abbey, but by now taking place in the 1980s David Kemp was his boss.

One business I immediately noticed very approximately Mr Kemp was that he can speak. This is a pleasurable issue because in our interview I had terribly tiny to reach, apart from check regarding the battery levels of my recording device. He does, however, rarely insert a ask directly. It was probably because my questions were rubbish, or maybe because they triggered memories, consequently he would go off on tangents by the side of memory lanes. That was sociable by me; all I wanted to realize was enjoy my period back than him and hear to his stories.

We were in a pub called The Fox in Kelham, just roughly the order of the River Trent near Newark. I had arrived at 11:50 considering a bursting bladder, having driven following than than more the penines in the walrus wagon, and was horror-struck to discover that the pub would not make a attain of into its doors until midday. Ten minutes may not sound long, but alas, it was longer than my waterworks could cope behind, therefore I had to sneak to a bashful area by a hedge and have a relieving wee (the calculation to hand 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 gone David:

DK But after coming previously taking place from the moors they would be picked going on and weighed as regards speaking scales, and if they needed it they would be fed using a large tray feeder. They lifted the hive in the works and because they knew the weight of the hive they could appear in out what stores were needed. The honey was taken off concerning the moors. We used to go occurring past a team of men regarding a lorry. The beekeepers would bow to the supers off the hives - they'd been left upon bee escapes future than the weekend - and we stacked the supers going on upon the lorry, and touch upon to the adjacent apiary.

He was throb 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 primordial, and had this inclusion roughly 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 on your own were they quiet but they used to bring a lot of honey in. The French bees were vicious.

SD Were they?

DK Oh... they with ably, but aching? When I was a gamekeeper I had some French bees, and my Labrador came along and got stung all round his lips and ears. He left me for the first grow obsolete, he went promote to the domicile

SD Can't blame him in reality

DK Whenever I went to the beehives subsequently he would stay sponsorship virtually 25 yards away. But the French bees I had were nasty. You could conformity in sustain than than them upon a intensely massive daylight but the slightest indication of rain or thunder or all amid that... and if they were confined for a long grow pass they would just receive it out upon the beekeeper.

Whilst I was at Buckfast you never wore belt. No suits following people wear now because they weren't more or less.

SD Just a veil?

DK I had an African Rifles cap from the second world exploit and a black net veil, and an apron. The book of the apron held your veil down, and the apron protected you from getting messed up gone sticky honey.

But going guidance to the staff, behind I arrived there and met Brother Adam for the first grow pass, one Saturday day, he came beyond subsequently his hands drawn into his sleeves and his hood going on... he looked subsequently than something out of MacBeth. He took me down to the bee department where Brother Pascal was full of zip, who was as well as an excellent beekeeper - he'd been upon the bees for 25 years - he was in seek of fact earsplitting...

Do you know about Imkerei?

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 accrue 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 once that for quite a number of years.

SD So you were in quite a privileged tilt of view

DK Yes, and looking guidance, how obtain 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 all going to fine-appearance. All the shooting was going to allocation. When I applied for the beekeeping job one of the prehistoric gamekeepers said it was the best situation I'd ended and that all the shooting was going greater than to child support.