24 May 2024
Dr Markus Klinge, Teacher of English and Beekeeping Society organiser
Thursday 23 May was a very exciting day for Woldingham’s Beekeeping Society as our bees finally arrived and moved into their new home.
We have spent the past term on theory: learning about the anatomy and life cycle of the honeybee, bee diseases and varroa treatment, how to do a hive inspection, and about the various products of the hive. We have even enjoyed bee poems by Sylvia Plath and Carol Ann Duffy! But all along, we have been looking forward to this day when we would actually get to handle our own bees.
We chose Buckfast Abbey Bees, a breed known for its placidity, perfect for beginners. Our first job was to move the bees from the travel box to their new permanent home at school on Bunny Hill, near the sun dial: we hope they like it there! We are feeding them sugar syrup and hope that over the next few months they’ll expand from a nuclear to a full-size colony with plenty of stores, so that they are ready to face the winter. There will be no honey this year, but if the bees come through the winter strongly we hope to have a harvest in 2025. Woldingham honey – with the true taste of our unique terroir. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to WPSA, whose generous support enabled us to purchase the necessary equipment, including our beekeeping suits, to get the Beekeeping Society started. The Society meets on Thursday afternoons at 4.15pm and we would love to welcome new student members keen to learn about bees.
