Nat talks us through the beautiful and emotional journey of keeping bees at The Bee Shed

In early 2020 I moved from Norwich to South Lopham (opposite Redgrave and Lopham Fen). The poor state of the land I had acquired and the uninterrupted forage around me inspired me to think about keeping bees. I did a short course with Waveney bee keepers and within a couple of months I had a couple of hives in my apiary.

My first hives didn’t make it through the winter which was very upsetting. I luckily met an experienced local bee keeper who gave me the confidence to get more bees. She introduced me to my local bee club Dicklebees, of which I am now the club secretary. This support gave me the confidence to increase the number of hives in my apiary, and it wasn’t long before I began collecting swarms in my area. I am officially hooked on bees and their welfare. The energy and smell of pheromones when you open a hive has a distinct individual imprint that is totally different from its neighbour. Each hive is an expression of the divine feminine principle, so powerful and awesome in its heightened energy of the summer sun. The sound they make is an ethereal song to the land they inhabit and the flowers and trees they forage on. The worker Bee starts and spends most of her life in the darkness of the hive, travelling through each job as she matures. Nursing, building wax, repairing comb, defending the hive, regulating the temperature, until finally in the last weeks of her life she leaves the hive as a forager bee to insure the survival of the colony and to keep the queen laying. Travelling up to three miles to gather pollen, nectar and water, she will toil tirelessly until the sun sets. I do miss them while they overwinter and try not to worry too much about them. They are wild insects after all!

Last summer I took the plunge to invest in some bee equipment so I am able to supply hives and anything bee related to local bee keepers and club members. Summer 2024 was my most productive for honey. I have been able to produce, soft set, runny, creamed and cut comb and honey mustard. The positive feed back from both hay fever suffers and those with chest infections and coughs has been very encouraging as honey is filled with nutrients, anti bacterial, anti inflammatory and anti oxidant properties. I find it particularly good on skin burns and wounds. In cream and soap it can help eczema and other dermatological issues. I am currently developing and testing out recipes using honey, wax, pollen and propolis from my apiary to develop a lip balm and honey soap to add to the range of products from TheBeeShed.