There’s a buzz about Webster
Kinross-based Webster Honey has taken advantage of the many weeks of warm, settled spring weather to dramatically increase its beehive placement across Perthshire.
The business is set to place 120 new hives in many new parts of the county, including Madderty, Crieff, Dunning, and the Strathallan Estate.
As well as general honey production, the hives will be used for beekeeping workshops for schools and nurseries, while businesses can also take advantage of sponsorship opportunities.
Webster Honey beekeeper Meik Molitor said dealing with the 120 hives was a“huge undertaking to manage”.
He added:“The hive frames have come from Eastern Europe, the wax sheets from England, together with hive parts from Denmark. The bees themselves are from Italy, and I am a German beekeeper looking after them all.
“I am delighted though that they are finally here, and we will be kept busy in the coming weeks taking them to their new homes, although some will remain here at the school.
“Bees are doing well in the lockdown – that’s one silver lining for us,”added Meik.“Everyone is at home doing their gardens and planting flowers, less parks and grounds are getting cut, so it’s great for bees to forage, and the air quality is much improved due to lack of traffic.
“We have had a strong sunny start to the season which has created perfect conditions. Usually you get a warm spell in March, which sets everything off well, but then frost comes again and everything is confused. We didn’t have that this year. Everything started to bloom when the bees first came out of hibernation.”
Launched last year, Webster Honey’s special Beekeeping Educational Centre at Scotlandwell, was a first for the area.
Housed in a custom designed log cabin, it trains and educates people hoping to keep their own bees, with a series of special day long courses, resulting in a professional beekeeping qualification.
School and nursery children can also come to the centre for courses, or Meik can take an observational hive to their premises.
Many schools and nurseries have now opted to have their own hives which they can look after for a year, with Meik coming in to carry out checks, and to conduct age appropriate lesson plans for the children.
“Obviously, we can’t do any school or nursery engagement at the moment until the schools reopen, which is real shame,”said Meik.
“As soon as it is safe to do so we will be back teaching children about bees.”
For further details go to www. websterhoney.com
Information is also available on the school and nursery programmes for the new term in August 2020 (dependent on COVID-19 regulations), and on business sponsorship, by emailing buzz@websterhoney.co.uk