Friday morning was one of those rare days this year, cloudless skies and warm sunshine, the perfect weather to spend the day celebrating the British countryside at Kate Humble’s rural skills centre, Humble By Nature, in Monmouthshire. Several months ago Kate kindly asked me if I would like to come along on one of the courses on offer at their farm. I had always been interested in bees so the opportunity to join the ‘Sustainable Beekeeping’ course was just too good to miss.
The courses are held in a large barn where there’s a space for teaching and a kitchen/dining area. After tea, some delicious honey biscuits and the chance to meet others on the course we moved into the classroom. There were beautiful handmade tables and vases of sweet peas dotted about and the barn doors were open giving us views out across the farm. Kate explained a little about what brought her and her husband, Ludo to the farm. Angry about council-owned farms being sold off and split up to generate revenue they decided to buy just such a farm in Monmouthshire with the idea of creating a rural skills centre.
They both wanted people to have the opportunity to spend some time on a working farm, learn a bit about a rural skill and enjoy some gorgeous food. They really want the centre to be rooted in the area and have pulled together a team of local experts, farmers and producers to host the courses.
Kate then introduced us to Monica and Nicola from Bees for Development who would be our teachers for the day. Bees for Development’s main work is in the developing world promoting beekeeping as a way to reduce poverty. They also provide training, advice and resources to beekeepers in the UK. After an hour or so in the classroom learning a bit about bees and some of the terms we’d be hearing over the course of the day we got to the hands on bit. Donning our bee suits we were given a quick briefing about getting stung, although we were reassured it would be unlikely, and with the smoker at the ready we went off to inspect our first hives brought to the farm by a local beekeeper.
The queen bee (with the pink dot on her back) surrounded by worker bees
By lunchtime any initial wariness around the bees had evaporated and we had learnt how to identify a queen bee, drones, workers, a brood and so much more. It was so fascinating. I had never seen inside a hive before or even got this close to so many bees and they were mesmerising.
Katherine’s delicious food
Lunch was provided by Kather’s Kitchen. Katherine runs cookery days at Humble by Nature and provides sustenance for the other courses. It was all delicious with a ricotta and spinach filo tart, celeriac remoulade and salad followed by panna cotta served with local Wye Valley honey.
Kate and Ludo’s hives
Suitably sated we returned to the bee suits and visited Kate and Ludo’s own hives, set up in an idyllic patch of woodland. With several different types of hives from a plastic Beehaus made by Omlet, the company behind the Eglu, to the more traditional, and I have to say much more attractive traditional ‘national’ and ‘topbar’ hives, Nicola and Monica were able to show us the advantages and disadvantages of the respective constructions.
It was sad to see the hives so lacking in honey, with one of the wettest springs and summers on record, bees have struggled and beekeepers across the country are having to give their colonies supplementary feed to make up for a lack of nectar and pollen.
Bees for Development – Bee Nest Box
Back in the classroom and refuelled with tea and cake we were taken through the various types of hives in a little more detail, shown how bees are so vital to food production and how there is so much we can all do to protect bee populations, even if beekeeping is not an option. It’s possible to buy from Bees for Development a bee nest box that once in position requires no maintenance; this does mean no honey harvesting but for those short on time it is a way of providing a much-needed nest site which are increasing difficult for bees to find.
To end the day we had a honey-tasting quiz, with 6 pots of different honeys we had to decide which matched a series of descriptions we had been given, using sight, smell and taste. The variation in colour and taste between different honeys always surprises me. I particularly like heather honey and as it always reminds me of the moorland of the Pennines. I have to admit I did terribly in the quiz getting only one right but I did get the chance to taste honey from Zambia and Grenada.
Monica and Nicola did a great job in packing in so much information into such a short space of time and I think we all came away feeling a bit more knowledgable about bees.
Worker bees with pollen sacs full – you can see collections of yellow pollen on their hind legs.
This was only my second time on a working farm; the last time was 30 years ago on a school trip. I do think it’s strange that in a country which has always been intrinsically linked with the countryside, where we eat produce from the land and spend our free time walking and cycling in a landscape sculptured by centuries of agriculture that so few of us have spent time on farms. Even when you live in a rural area, as I do, there is a division between farmers and the rest of us, which is a real shame. It goes back to my post last week on flower farming where a disconnection means it is harder to appreciate the time and effort that goes into something as fundamental as producing the food we eat.
The courses aren’t just aimed at those with land and a smallholding. One course member on the beekeeping day lived in London and was planning to put a hive on the roof of her flat. I always think the test of whether something is a great idea is when people want to return and even in the short space of time Humble By nature has been up and running they have already had repeat visits, Wellyman is planning a spot of hedge-laying and I’m eyeing up one of the foraging courses. It’s a big job that Kate and Ludo have taken on but their passion and enthusiasm is contagious. There’s a lovely, warm, relaxed atmosphere at the farm and situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB) the only sounds all day were birds, buzzing bees, baaing sheep, bleating goats and a tractor.
Underneath the capped cells of comb are baby bees ready to emerge.
Kate and Ludo have generously offered a free day at Humble by Nature for a course of the winners choice. If you would like to enter the draw just subscribe and leave a comment here and say you would like to be included. The closing date will be two weeks from today on Monday 27th August at 12 noon. I’ll then put everyone’s names in a hat and choose a lucky winner. Accommodation and travelling expenses are not included but Monmouthshire is easily accessible and is a stunning part of the country, so well worth a visit.
For more information about Humble By Nature take a look at the website where you can see what other courses are on offer.
For more information on Bees for Development.
You can also follow Kather’s Kitchen by signing up to her blog to receive news and recipes.
‘Good Luck’ to everyone who enters the draw.
wellywoman 
What a wonderful experience – wish I was across the pond to enter your drawing. But, my granddaughter and I did attend a class on bees a few weeks ago, and it was fascinating. The anatomy of a bee is amazing, and the manner in which they work within the hive is mind boggling. Spending time on a far is great – living on a farm is even better. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Hi Judy, It was so great to discover so much about bees but to actually see them at work had to be the best bit. They are such amazing creatures and humans should learn to appreciate them more and stop using chemicals and destroying their habitats. Without them we’d soon realise how important they are for providing us with food.
Enjoyed reading about your exciting adventure.
Thanks pbmgarden, It was a great day and I’m so pleased I’ve got the chance for someone else to win a day there.
Oh how marvellous, would absolutely love love love to win a course, and I’d choose the same one as you, bee keeping! I’ve been dreaming of having bees myself for several years, though initially thought it would not be possible in residential London. But last few years I’ve come across more and more people who do just that and think perhaps it is something I could do. Certainly I want to play any small part in supporting our British bees. I buy British honey, but keeping my own bees would be even better. How exciting!
Kavey, Sounds like it could be the course for you. It certainly seems that there are more and more people doing it in urban areas. Doing a course like this would be so useful to see what the best options are regarding hives and learning to understand bees. Good luck!
Sounds realy interesting. I’ve thought of keeping beesa as I have so many in the garden anyway but really we just don’t eat enough honey. Last year we went to a honey tasting – 6 honeys took almost 2 hours, you can read about it here: http://buonaforchetta.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/the-fine-art-of-tasting-miele/
I was fascinated to know about ‘honeydew honey , which sounds horrible but was delicious. Christina
Hi Christina, Just read about your honey tasting day which sounded great fun. Our tasting was no where near as reverential towards the honey. That lime tree honey looked incredible like a lemon sorbet. Acacia has always been a favourite, perhaps because it is quite a light flavour. The local Wye Valley honey is delicious too.
What a wonderful day you had, something I would love to have done years ago. I was fascinated when we had a swarm in the garden last year and the way the beekeeper persuaded them into his box. Will look forward to reading about your bees when you get tham.
It was such a fascinating day. I’ve been reading about bees for a while now, so to see inside the hive was a delight.
keeping bees was a long held dream for me, and something I realised last year when I got my first colony and hive. I now have 3 hives and and looking to expand. As you say they are mesmerising, and I never tire of watching them.
I have been studying the British Bee Keeping Association’s Basic Assessment exams and would recommend joining, and attending classes run by your local bee-keeping association before you make the not inconsiderable investment in a nuc, hive, suit, smoker and so on. The cost of a year long classes and apiary based training is about the same as the day long course at Kate’s.
I attended 2 hour weekly theory classes from Jan through to March, and then 2 hourly sessions hands on in an apiary learning through the rest of the season about all the different things we need to be aware of as bee-keepers.
Joining a local bee-keeping association will also put you in touch with a network of local bee-keepers who can support you on your journey, and most provide considerable Public Liability insurance as part of the annual fee which is a bonus, as not everyone loves bees and there are those who would try sue you because they got stung!.
Sounds a fantastic introduction to bee-keeping though, and I would certainly be interested in one of the other courses Kate’s offering at the farm.
Hi Zoe, The ladies from Bees for Development where full of useful tips and they pointed those interested in beekeeping towards their local beekeeping association. How amazing that you’ve now got 3 hives and you’re doing all those exams. I’m sure you’d have a great day on one of the other courses, good luck!
Hi,
How lovely, now I have my chicks, Bee keeping comes to mind, so yes please, enter my coment. Glad you enjoyed yourself, am off now to have a good look round their website.
Hope all is well?
Maureen
Hi Maureen, Chickens and possibly bees, you sound like the perfect person for one of Kate’s courses. Good Luck!
Bees are fascinating and deserve to be better understood and encouraged and respected. A lovely post.
Thanks, Sue. Sadly bees aren’t as appreciated as they should be, hopefully places like Kate’s farm can help to educate people more about the countryside and nature.
Great to see another yellow Omlet Beehaus!
We’re hoping to start some Beekeeping courses in London next year to compliment our our courses…
We’ll be extracting our honey in the next week or so and hopefully will get around 50 jars…
So glad you enjoyed yourself!
Sara
http://www.HenCorner.com
Thanks Hencorner, Wow if you can get that much honey your bees are doing well. There was so little honey in the hives on the course that the bees would be lucky to survive the winter.
Good to see the Top Bar Hives and more holistic ways of bee-keeping being promoted. Great post, you are right about the division between farmers and everyone else. I live in a rural area surrounded by fields and some days see as many ag. vehicles go past the house as regular cars. Most local farmers are lovely people but one or two (always the richest families with the most acreage) are thoroughly unpleasant.
Best of luck to Kate and Ludo; like many others, if I won the bee-keeping course would be very tempting :}
Hi Bilbo, Sounds like where I live, although I have never met any of the richer landowners to be able to comment on their level of friendliness;) I guess the problem is unless you have farming friends there is no reason to go to a farm. I went to a local county show a few years ago and although I consider myself a countryside person, I did feel like a bit of an outsider because I don’t make a living from the land. Good luck in the draw!
Sounds like a wonderful experience, would love to win a place on the course
Hi Nadia, I’m sure you’d have a great time. Good Luck!
Hi
I’d love to come to one of the day courses, sounds absolutely lovely! I’ve always been entranced by the idea of keeping bees, but felt it would be too problematic. I would be delighted to be proved wrong!
Gill x
Hi Gill, Sounds like it could be the place for you. It’s such a good idea to try these things out first and even if you decide not to go with it you’ve had a great day out in the process. Good luck in the draw.
Kate’s farm sounds amazing. It is so inspirational when someone contributes to the future of the countryside like this. Wishing her and her husband every success.
I admire them so much for doing something about a problem rather than just complaining about it. Our host for the day is a local farmer and she was saying how it had brought the local farmers together. How before there hadn’t really known each other or what they were up to but now they are helping each other out. Apparently Kate and Ludo have been ‘like a breath of fresh air’. I really hope what they do is a great success.
An interesting and informative post! What a great day out for you, and I really do applaud Kate and her husband for what they are doing.
Although I have no desire to keep bees I would like to see all allotment sites have some bee keepers and hives. A plot neighbour keeps them and I’m more than happy to encourage the bees onto the plot by growing plenty of plants they like.
There’s no need to include me in the draw, which is a generous offer and a grand prize. xx
Hi Flighty, Thank you. I agree it would be great if allotments had a few hives. It just seems to make sense, part of the whole cycle. It’s such a lovely idea, what Kate and Ludo are doing, I wish them great success.
Wow – I would love to do a course like that! I love the thought of a small hive in my garden.
I’ve always had a soft spot for bees. Along with earthworms, they are the two small creatures I put quite a bit of time and effort into encouraging them into my garden. I also avoid using any products which could harm them.
Our family used to keep bees for many years on their fruit farm in the hills of Mt Wellington.
I would love to keep bees but I think a few chooks is probably more my thing for our situation.
We moved to our house 8 months ago and since moving have planted a small orchard of multiple apples and cherries as well as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. We also have a 150 year old Napoleon pear and potted citrus. I’ve planted as many bee attracting species as I can (without compromising my overall design) around my fruiting trees and shrubs including rows of English lavender close to espalier apples and cherries we’ve recently put in.
Not only do I love bees in my garden and specifically plant to encourage them, I love honey products, especially in skin care. Bee keeping is sort of a big thing here in Tasmania, especially our leatherwood honey. There are also a lot of good local honey products that I really love including Beauty and the Bees and the Tasmanian Honey Company.
Danielle, I love the sound of your garden with all that fruit. I’m just about to pick our first apples from our newly planted espalier tree. We’ve only got 6 but it is a small tree and the weather was terrible in Spring. Apparently the fruit harvest this autumn has really suffered. Some local orchards have no fruit at all because they were hit by late frosts and then heavy rain.
Sounds as if it was both an enjoyable and informative experience WW. I wonder whether you will go on to keep bees in the future. I have so many allergies and think that it might be too risky for me. I do enjoy watching the hives at the allotment from a safe distance and hearing from the beekeepers about what’s going on. The hives were set up late last summer so it has been a steep learning curve for them. Hopefully the first honey will be ready soon and will be available for plot holders to buy. You make a most pertinent point about the distance between farmers and the population at large. I was lucky enough to have relatives in farming so as child spent some time on a farm especially at strawberry picking time. I did not appreciate then but I do now 🙂
There are other courses such as foraging and cooking the produce such as collecting wild berries and fruits of late summer or preserving and preparing autumnal bounty. Have a look at their website there might still be something you might fancy. I was a bit worried about the bees and getting stung but because we were only looking at them and not taking any honey they were pretty calm. Our hosts were very good as well and I very quickly relaxed.
wow…please enter me into your FAB draw…I would love to keep bees on my dads allotment, I went to the Gower Show and the Royal Welsh and saw all the honey classes, blummin’ great!!! I entered a few classes for cooking and veg…chuffed to get a 2 seconds and 2 third places!!!
Will do, Liz. Well done on your show awards. I really must get to the Royal Welsh one day, it looked great on Kirstie Allsop’s programme last year.
Just love this article. It creates enthusiasm for not only what Kate and her husband are trying to do but describes the day and the surroundings beautifully. As for the bee’s – I am intrigued! The course sounds perfect for those who want to dip their toe in the water and learn more. We have lots of types of bees in our garden; small honey bees to Bumbles the size of Shetland ponies! I’m so fascinated that this has peaked my interest. With a 1/2 acre garden and lots of unintentional wildlife areas (nettles, weeds and wild flowers everywhere due to neglect of the garden) I think we might be able to provide an ideal habitat and discover a new hobby….’she wanders away to check the ‘humble’ website’….!
Sounds like your garden would be a perfect place for a hive or two, Suzanne.
I was on the same course and enjoyed it immensely! Please enter me into the draw as I would love to go back on one of the cooking courses.
Hi Simon, Will do. I’m planning on doing one of the cookery courses, too I had such a good day.
I’m always a bit afraid for bees, but reading this about the bees and you being so near to them must be great. Thank you for sharing this.
I was a bit worried about the bees to at first. But we were in full bees suits with gloves on and because we weren’t taking any honey the bees were really calm. Nobody got stung and actually it’s a great way to experience the bees up close and safely and understand why they might sting you if they do. I’ll feel much more relaxed around them now.
Both my wife and I would LOVE to go on some of these courses – beekeeping, pigs, hedgelaying – all good!
Have wanted bees for a while, along with pigs and/or goats (“and”, obviously, but maybe “or” is more realistic 😉 but chickens have taken all our time so far. (Not complaining though)
Hi Rob, sounds like Humble by Nature is the perfect place for you both!
What a fabulous thing they are doing, I hope they thrive and their venture becomes Monmouthshire’s answer to River Cottage! I particularly like the way they are using local experts to run the courses. I agree about the disconnect. Ironically, with so many city farms around now, it is possibly the country-dwelling children that are growing up more ignorant. I used to love going to the livestock market that happened every week in our local town when I was growing up, but that shut down before I reached secondary school age. One of our new neighbours is a farmer, and takes his grandsons with him at the moment, which they seem to love!
Janet, I hope so too. I completely agree some city children probably do have more contact with animals than rural ones. It’s not that everyone will want to be a farmer but it is good to have more of an understanding of the world around us and food production is such a fundamental part of that.
I would love to be included in the draw. Thanks.
Hi James, Will do. Good Luck!
Please enter me into this amazing draw, your day sound idyllic. As a biology student I am always looking to learn more about any animal and am hoping that one day I will have my own small holding with bees and as many other animals as possible (off into my dream world again)
Hi Vicky, Your name will be in the draw. It’s a great place, I’m sure you’d love it. Good luck!
We have a vegetable patch, have planted native plants for pollinaters, put a wildlife pond in the garden and want to do more 🙂 Well done you
Hi Lisa, Actually seeing the bees has made me more determined to plant more bee friendly plants.
Love your bee course blog, I have been following the development of Kate and Ludo’s farm and applaud their efforts, sounds like a wonderful day and I would be grateful to be included in the draw :o) I was led to it via your comment on Brigit Strawbridge’s blog and am looking forward to reading more of your posts. We try to encourage the bees and other pollenators in our garden by having a borage bed and leaving the hedge cutting whilst the wild honeysuckle is flowering, and this year we have tried to develop a micro-meadow on the strip of garden where we have our new cornish variety apple trees but the weather has not been our friend :o(
Will do, Gary. Loving the sound of your Cornish apple trees. Heritage variety apples are big interest of mine. It’s been a hard year with the weather but us gardeners are an optimistic bunch. We have to hope next year will be better.
Our trees came via Shane at http://www.cornishappletrees.co.uk who we met at Kehelland Apple Day a couple of years ago, he’s trying very hard to get local varieties planted again, I was amazed how many Cornish varieties there are still in existance, dozens of them, it was a great experience being able to taste so many before we settled on our 5 🙂 Sitting here with the torrential downpour thats going on outside this morning its a bit of a struggle to be optimistic, feels more like November!
It has been so miserable here today. I share your feelings 😦 When and where is Kehelland Apple Day, we’re down in Cornwall in October so I’m hoping I might get some apple events/harvest festivals whilst there.
Apple Day is usually the second Sunday in October, Kehelland is just west of Camborne, it is an event hosted by Kehelland Trust who provide a rural setting to support adults with mental and physical disabilities – http://www.kehelland.org.uk for details 🙂
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately we’ll not be around for the apple day but I plan to go to Cotehele this time to visit their orchards.
I’ve always wanted bees here, and my daughters gave me a Mothers’ Day present to the Fortnums’ honey tasting talk, including a trip onto the roof to look at the very smart beehives. For me, I’d assumed living near so many oilseed rape fields would make honey like concrete, but I’ve recently learnt you can scoop it away and let the bees start again. Would love love to be included in the draw to learn how to do it properly. Loved your blog.
Hi Diana, Thank you. You’ll be in the draw next Monday.I was a fascinating day and would definitely recommend it. The local Wye Valley honey has rapeseed in it and it does taste lovely. Good luck!
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Our poor bees really need a helping hand. I have planted lots of nectar plants but have always been a little wary of bees. Winning a place on a course like this could be a brilliant way to get started, it sounds like you had a great time!
What an informative and interesting day you had. I would love to keep bees on my allotment i have lots of flowers and fruit for them to pollinate – but still not sure if I will be good at handling them. I need to do a course – perhaps I should do a day with Kate first as an introduction. Please enter me in your draw you never know perhaps I’ll be lucky lol! If not it will definatley go on my christmas pressie list!
I look forward to reading more about your bee keeping adventures in the future possibly!