Northumberland bees keep Honey
Northumberland bees keep Honey
Farm in clover
Though bee colonies reduce their activities during the winter
months, bee farmers still have plenty to do as Ann Rogers
discovered when she paid a visit to Chain Bridge Honey Farm
WHITE clover was an important feature of crop rotations 50 years ago when Willie Robsons father kept bees in the far north of Northumberland, and it was a staple for his bees.
Nowadays Willies bees still seek it out along with a mix of wild plants that includes heather, but the brilliant yellow blooms of oilseed rape make the major contribution to his Tweedside flower honey.
"We would have to run a slimmer business if we didnt have the rape," says Willie, who is a former chairman of the British Bee Farmers Associa-tion.
But its not only modern farming practices that have changed the nature of the business. Urban changes have affected it too.
The numerous grocers and other small shopkeepers in and around Berwick-upon-Tweed who used to stock Willies honey went out of business when supermarkets came along. As a result he has to travel long distances to make sales. His area now stretches from Inverness to York and, as Hampshire apiarists have lost so many bee colonies, his honey is currently relayed down to that county too.
* Largest producer
With 12,000 hives Willie can claim to be Britains second biggest bee farmer and its largest producer of comb honey.
His apiaries are on other peoples land on both sides of the Scottish border and up to 25 miles from his home, honey house and visitor centre at Horncliffe, near Berwick-upon-Tweed.
This is just a stones throw from the River Tweed and a short step from the chain bridge which provides a crossing to Scotland, and from which the honey farm takes it name. The bridge, which was built in 1820 and was the first suspension bridge in Britain to take commercial traffic, helps flag up the farm to tourists.
When Willie first began developing a visitor centre it was "to keep people out of the honey house," the place where he and his staff extract and process honey and honey products. Now he sees the centre as essential if he is to maintain sales.
Building work is a winter job when the hives are quiet. The original honey house is being turned into an area where ancient tractors and other old vehicles will be displayed. Vehicle restoration is also a winter occupation and one on which his son and other enthusiasts devote much time. When Farmlife visited, a pre-1920s caravan – one made for leisure purposes rather than gipsy life – was getting the full treatment.
"The centre will raise the profile of the place," Willie says, "and sell more honey. Of course we get a lot of pleasure out of these too," he adds, pointing out the huge crawler tractor made by Vickers for the Tanganikan ground nut scheme, and the two Lanz Bulldog tractors sent to him from Australia by a bee-keeper who had visited his honey farm.
At the moment the part of the centre that is on view is the first floor area above his new honey house. This is an education and sales point that is also a tribute to the skills of a small group of local people. They include printers and picture framers, the calligraphers who are converting wall-mounted fact sheets into easily read works of art and the woodworkers who have turned some of the neighbourhoods oak and yew into furniture and fittings.
* Characterful murals
Then there is retired schoolmaster A D Johnson, whose murals reflect the scenery and the character of this part of Northumberland and whose work gets better and better. From countryside scenes he has progressed to a stirring panoramic view of Berwick-upon-Tweed and his latest project, still to be completed, is a map of the Tweed and its tributaries studded with scenes of natural or historic interest.
This is in the third of the three rooms, the one which has yet to be developed. The second room is the education room and something of an apicultural library where bee-keeping courses are conducted from time to time.
A circular feature is being developed to house bees which will, of course, have access to the outside world. An unusual observation hive already flourishes in the first room. This comprises 12 frames – the sections that would be found in a hive – set edge to edge to form a glass covered rectangle. Each is labelled so that visitors can see its role and get a better idea of how a colony functions as they watch the bees going about their business. External heat is applied to make up for the heat which the bees would generate themselves in a regular hive.
* Agricultural botanist
Willies late father was an agricultural botanist who was obliged to learn the craft of bee-keeping because it was one of the subjects he was expected to teach when he took up a post at the Edinburgh and East Lothian College. His method of study was to visit all the bee keepers in the area to learn about their practices, discover the most effective and prove it by following it.
Willie, who has kept bees himself for 32 years, farms in partnership with his wife Daphne, and their son, Stephen, now works with them. Their daughter helps out in the summer months, when honey farm staff is boosted to eight full-time and half a dozen part-timers.
His colonies are native to the area, with a natural immunity to its infections. Willie does not introduce foreign queens to step up production for fear the climate change upsets the queen and results in loss of morale.
At the time of Farmlifes visit he reckoned that varroa was still about 50 miles from Horncliffe, but he was prepared to deal with it when necessary.
He plans to use thyme and other natural oils to defeat this parasite which is crippling British bee stocks by making them vulnerable to disease and adverse conditions. Formic acid, which is not so easy to handle, is another method he may use, he says, explaining that this acid is in the sting of an ant and that jays and jackdaws already use its parasite-killing properties when they dust themselves in ants nests.
Meanwhile honey packing and further processing continues apace, and the range of products steadily grows. Several types of honey and honeycomb are offered in a variety of packs, along with a range of rolled and moulded beeswax candles.
Honey mustards are among the newer lines. Producing the coarse, crunchy one caused few problems, but it took Willie and his team some while to produce a satisfactory smooth mustard that would not separate out. Once the recipe was established they then had to mechanise the operation: "Until you get the machines you will never make a profit," warns Willie.
* Cosmetic concoctions
Then there are various honey and beeswax-based cosmetics, most of them therapeutic ones for roughened skin and including a delicious and effective natural lip balm.
"The only thing we dont make is propolis tincture," says Willie. This is another therapeutic item and one made from the tough material that bees use as a seal or barrier.
"Its propolis that keeps me alive," his 95-year-old mother told Farmlife. "Five drops in half a glass of water each day."
Developing propolis production, putting screens in hives to encourage the bees to produce more, is something for the future, Willie says.
Inquiries: (01289-386362) fax (01289-386763).
Left: Willie and Daphne Robson display their honey and beeswax products. They offer 60 different lines including four types of honey mustard. Below: Mary Hastie (right) and Rachel Thompson pause during mustard packing.
Left: The walls of the visitor centre have been decorated with murals by retired school master A D Johnson. Above: The work is done downstairs and Steven Purves is shown here lifting frames of heather honey.
Left: Joyce Walsingham cuts and packs cartons of comb honey and puts off cuts in jars for chunk honey. Above: Willie and Daphne welcome visitors daily from April to October and on weekdays in winter.