Chapter One

In 1961 the Dennis Woodcocks moved to Tedney House on the banks of the River Teme. It was an old dilapidated farm house surrounded by fruit trees. The blossom on the fruit trees was ideal for bees, but long before the fruit was flowering the bees were hard at work, weather permitting, on the many varieties of willow on the river bank.

Before the willows were over the cherries, apple, pear and damson were ready for the bees so that feeding was uninterrupted. Then the Hawthorn trees came out and after that there was usually more than the bees needed. Large trees such as Sycamore and Lime kept them busy.

Because of its situation in the fruit orchards Tedney was a collecting point for swarms of bees and it was not unusual for six or seven swarms to arrive each year. The Bailiff, Harold by name, who ran the farm for the owners was a bee-keeper (among other things). He asked me to let him know if I saw a swarm. This I did and it was not long before I was helping to take the swarms as they arrived. Harold, suggested that he should sell me one of his empty hives and I could have a go at keeping a colony for myself. This soon led to four hives set up in my garden and I quickly learnt that bees and I seemed to "get along". I had little difficulty in handling them and after a year or two enough honey was being produced to provide for all the family.

By the time I was firmly established as a bee-keeper in my own right, Harold moved further away but still lived near enough for us to meet quite frequently. A man of many parts, his main work was as a shepherd but he also reared and trained sheepdogs. In his early days he had worked as a nursery garden assistant and had acquired a skill in many of the more difficult aspects of gardening. Apart from growing first class flowers and vegetables, he could graft and bud the species with great success. These are both skills that seem simple when described in books but rarely work as they should (at least for me). In the next chapter I shall tell stories about co-operating with Harold in the collection of swarms.

Chapter Two