We have been shortlisted Best International Business (CBA18 – pdf)

In BJ Sherriff’s 50th business anniversary year, we have been Short listed in the category for Best International Business at the Cornwall Business Awards 2018. To be held at the St Mellion Hotel on the 19th April 2018.

It’s been a very busy few months for BJ Sherriff, with us attending no less than three top notch conventions since August.

First up was our own annual charity BEE Fayre in August, held in aid of Bees Abroad, Bees for Development, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Bee Kind Appeal.

The fayre saw bee enthusiasts from far and wide descend on the Enys Gardens Estate in St Gluvias, Penryn, for two days of bee-focused activities, talks, demonstrations, workshops and fun.

This year’s BEE Fayre was a huge success and not only raised money for the chosen charities, but also helped raise awareness about bees and their plight.

Next on our events calendar this year was the 85th National Honey Show held at Sandown Park Racecourse, Surrey, in October.

It’s the first time that the National Honey Show has been held at Sandown Park and the splendid new venue afforded more space for traders, as well as enabling all of the many activities to be housed under one roof.

The largest, most prestigious honey show of its kind in the world, the National Honey Show promotes the highest quality honey and wax products with international classes, lecture convention, workshops and a beekeeping equipment trade show.

Last, but certainly not least, was the Farm Business Innovation Show at the Birmingham NEC in November.

Featuring 200 seminars and 400 exhibitors over two days, there was a huge amount to get involved with at the show this year.

The Farm Business Innovation Show is the diversification and innovation event for farmers and landowners to make more money from their land.

 

BJ Sherriff presents two days of activities, talks and fun in aid of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Cornwall Wildlife Trust – Bee Kind Appeal, Bees Abroad and Bees for Development. The annual charity BEE Fayre will take place on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st August 2016, from 11am to 5pm.

The two-day event will be held at Enys Gardens, Penryn TR10 9LB and will be a fun day out for all the family. The BEE Fayre will be held primarily in the Enys House and admission will also give you the chance to explore all of the lovely gardens.

At BJ Sherriff we are becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of bees and it would seem that amongst the general public globally the concerns are the same and with this in mind we have organised our charity bee awareness day. With the help of knowledgeable beekeepers, who have volunteered to assist on the day, we are hopeful that many of the public’s questions can be discussed and answered as well as introducing people to the world of bees.

Stands and activities

Over the course of the weekend there is a busy line-up of events planned including talks, demonstrations and workshops all about bees and beekeeping from experts in the field. The Bee Farmers’ Association will discuss beekeeping as a career, the University of Exeter will be talking about studying bee colony survival, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust will highlight the plight of the bumblebee and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust will show the work being done through Cornwall to preserve bee habitat. There will also be traditional skep making demonstrations by Martin Buckle showing you how to craft a basket beehive.

You will also have a unique opportunity to take a close look inside of a virtual beehive, kindly lent to us by the Cornwall Beekeepers Association and Carole Allen.

Stands at the BEE Fayre include BJ Sherriff Beekeeping Clothing and Equipment, Beegifts.com, Cornishbees.com, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Falmouth University BeeSoc, Bee Craft, Northern Bee Books, Nine Maidens Honey and Mead, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Neal’s Yard with Honey Cosmetics range, Plant stall run by Anne Pengelly, Bees Abroad (of which Brian Sherriff is Patron). With more stalls being added all the time. Outside of the manor house you’ll be able to pick up some bee-friendly plants and bulbs for your garden.

Annie’s Kitchen Garden Café will also be open throughout the event for tea, sandwiches and cake from 11am to 5pm and we’ll even see if we can get some Enys Honey cake on the menu!

Children’s Area

On Sunday from midday, the Screech Owl Sanctuary will host an awe-inspiring demonstration of birds of prey. Over the weekend there will be a creativity area for children to spot the BEE Fayre bee, as well as make a candle to take home and dress up as a beekeeper activity. Come along and see our Celebrity Beekeepers Showcase, past and present. Also, there will be the Bee Safari leaving from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust stall throughout the day so plenty for budding young beekeepers to see.

Speakers

We have a jam-packed line up of exciting guest speakers over the course of the BEE Fayre, speaking on a range of topics from ‘Bees as a career’ to ‘Polyhives and the hierarchy of bees’. Our line-up for Saturday and Sunday will be revealed soon – check back here for more details.

If you would like to volunteer on the day to help with the BEE Fayre, please get in touch with Charlotte – bjsherriff.marketing@gmail.com.

Admission is Adults £5, Child 6-16 £3, Seniors £4, Student £2, Children under five go free. Facilities include parking on site, dogs on leads are welcome.

This event has been organised by BJ Sherriff and is in aid of Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Bees Abroad, Cornwall Wildlife Trust – Bee Kind Appeal and Bees for Development.

Hooray! We’ve won Best International Business Silver at the Cornwall Business Awards 2016.

We’re very excited here at BJ Sherriff HQ as we pride ourselves in sending the best of British manufacturing out to all four corners of the world. All handmade here in Cornwall.

Roll on 2017!

See the full list of finalists here:

http://www.cornwallbusinessawards.co.uk/finalists-2016.html

 

 

On April 24 2016, Ian Wallace, from  Quince Honey Farm, ran the Virgin London Marathon in aid to raise money for Bees Abroad, a charity which relieves poverty through beekeeping. 

We have been following Ian’s story and to show our support donated one of our high quality beekeeping suits to Ian, so that he could promote beekeeping and the charity during his 26 mile marathon.

Ian said: “On the day, it was perfect running conditions and the bright BJ Sherriff orange coloured suit helped me promote beekeeping and the good it brings to both people and bees.

“The marathon did get really tough towards the end but spectators kept shouting ‘Go on beekeeper’ and ‘Save the bees!’ which kept me going.”

“A fantastic experience.”

Ian finished the London Marathon in 3hrs 33.09 and raised more than £1000 for Bees Abroad.

Bees Abroad is a small UK-registered charity seeking to reduce poverty through beekeeping. Volunteer Project Managers assess and support beekeeping projects in developing countries world wide. They use their expertise, working in the local communities, to develop a viable project which will become self-sustainable.

People can donate money for the Bees Abroad project via Ian’s just giving page. Click to donate.

Bees Abroad is a small UK-registered charity seeking to reduce poverty through beekeeping.

Volunteering Project Managers assess and support beekeeping projects in developing countries world wide. Using indigenous bees and techniques appropriate for each location, Bees Abroad offers training and support in beekeeping including making hives and protective clothing from local materials, managing honeybees, collecting honey safely and handling and storing the produce hygienically.

On April 24 2016, Ian Wallace will be running the Virgin London Marathon in aid to raise money for the Bees Abroad project. To show our support, we have donated one of our high quality beekeeping suits to Ian who will be showcasing the bright orange protective garment during his marathon run.

Ian said, “I want to help Bees Abroad raise money because a close family friend is a key volunteer involved with project.

I have been a big fan of the charity for many years and want to show them my support. I am delighted to be able to help the cause raise money to fund projects which enormously improve people’s lives.”

Brian Sherriff founder of BJ Sherriff is also a patron of the charity.

Any contribution will go a long way in establishing sustainable beekeeping operations in developing countries. If you would like to donate to help raise money for the cause, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Running-for-Bees-Abroad

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 21^st 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 20/21^st August 2016.
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