Increasingly aware of the plight of the bees, B J SHERRIFF organised their first Charity Bee Awareness Day, which took place on the 9th August 2015.
Keeping it local, the BEE Fayre took place at Enys Gardens, Cornwall which is best known for its magnificent bluebell displays in the spring.
Our local MP, Sarah Newton kindly came to officially open our Fayre telling us how as a child she was fascinated by all insects but especially bees, later going on to train as a beekeeper under Colin Rees, Cornwall Beekeepers’ Association’s President.
Enys House is a restoration work in progress, with walls stripped back to the bare, yet pretty, stonework. Building work is currently hampered by 10 different types of bat that are living in the roof, and can only be restarted when the bats migrate to the basement. Never the less the BEE Fayre stands occupied three of the large downstairs rooms and vast entrance hall.
The many visitors, around 300 in all, were encouraged to ask questions of the host of knowledgeable beekeepers present. Informative talks ran throughout the day, and guests were able to engage with educational tools, such as the Virtual Hive kindly loaned to us by CBKA.
Professor Juliet Osborne, from the University of Exeter, summed up the Bee Awareness Day in her PowerPoint lecture, ‘Why we ALL need Bees.’
Exhibitors included one of Cornwall’s best known beekeepers, Rodger Dewhurst from Gwenen Apiaries, who not only has hives of Cornish Black Bees at Enys, but also 100 hives in apiaries stretching from Newquay to the Lizard. Another well known honey farm, Nine Maidens Honey, came with their wonderful selection of meads. Carole Allen gave a talk – ‘How honey varieties influence the taste of mead’ – and volunteered to man the virtual beehive, which attracted a great deal of interest from visitors, young and old.
Jacqueline Davey was in charge of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust table, and raised £67.50 for the charity, as well as taking a group of visitors into the garden to talk about ‘The managing and conserving of Cornish hedgerows for bees’. Earlier in the year, Jacqueline was instrumental in holding a Bee Fair in Perranwell, which was a great success.
West Cornwall Beekeepers were out in force, manning Northern Bee Books stand and answering our visitors many questions and teaching us how to roll a candle using brightly coloured wax Big thanks to Peter Kemble of KBS, who kindly supplied us with the wax.
Brian Sherriff looked after the B J SHERRIFF stand, and enjoyed talking to the beekeepers that came along specifically to buy the beekeeping suits that Brian himself designed in 1968, as well as to buy smokers, gloves and hive tools.
Margaret Ginman, the General Secretary of the Bee Farmers Association, stoically drove down from Sussex and back in a day, solely to support us with a wonderful talk titled: ‘Bees as a Career’. She told us about the work that the BFA are doing with their Apprenticeship Scheme to help young people get into beekeeping as a career. Margaret was pleased to learn that a young lady who heard about her talk had come specifically to learn more about beekeeping as a career with a view to applying for the Apprenticeship. “The Bee Farmers Association was privileged to be invited to speak at the first BEE Fayre. General Secretary Margaret Ginman talked of the need to increase the production of British honey. We only satisfy around 15 per cent of the domestic market. The only way to change this is to persuade more youngsters to take up a career in bee farming. It is thanks to sponsors like B J Sherriff and Rowse Honey that the BFA has been able to launch an apprenticeship scheme to tackle this.”
Our Beekeepers Celebrity Showcase created a lot of interest. It showed articles and photographs of Famous and well known Beekeepers Past and Present, such as Sherlock Holmes, and beekeepers from the 21st Century, the likes of BBC presenter Bill Turnbull and Queen’s Beekeeper, John Chapple.
The 41 Raffle prizes were begged by Angela from many local and national businesses, who were all extremely supportive. There were gift hampers from B J SHERRIFF, Bees for Development and E..H.Thorne. The London Honey Company generously provided cartons of Honey, Mead and Candles. The vast array spanned a 4 metre table top, with Brian Sherriff drawing the winners.
Proceeds from the BEE Fayre were divided equally between the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Bees Abroad (of which Brian Sherriff is Patron), and Bees for Development.
A big thank you to all our speakers who not only gave up their time free of charge but who’s interesting talks added a special learning experience to the day.
Special thanks go to Wendy Fowler, the owner of EnysGarden, who allowed us to stage the BEE Fayre event within Enys House and accepted all the crazy ideas proposed to her, and to Danni the Head Gardener, who was so helpful.
Based on the success of B J SHERRIFF’s first BEE Fayre, this will now be an annual event. The dates for your diary next year are 20/21st August 2016.
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