Al Fresco.

In past years, the bee keeping club used to bring bees here to gather heather honey from the surrounding hills, and we would all come here on the last Sunday of August to see how good the harvest would be and to celebrate the end of the bee keeping year with a picnic. The events of precisely fifteen years ago put paid to us bringing our bees together but the picnic continues.

In 2003, the dreaded varroa mite was moving into Scotland and, unbeknownst to us, had bypassed this part of the world and arrived in Edinburgh. It was the simple action of a colony of Edinburgh bees coming here for their holidays that passed the parasite onto all our members' bees, causing ill-feeling and arguments amongst our members - much of it fuelled by anger and ignorance when friendship and support would have been more appropriate. All that is now water under the proverbial and the long term result is that beekeepers are now a much better informed community, and the publicity generated by the plight of the honey bee resulting from the appearance of the mite, and the problems it brings, has created a new and enthusiastic band of recruits to the bee keeping world, and both organised and informal training is available to these novices. We also have societies supporting the native honey bees of the more isolated areas of Britain with there also being a native breed outpost in Denmark.


Today we enjoyed our picnic despite the light drizzle, the good natured banter which usually has me as the butt of the jokes and a rare informal committee meeting. With two local bee keeping clubs on friendly terms, we wanted to arrange our meetings to avoid clashes with theirs – I think we might have succeeded.