“There is a great synergy between the farm, myself, the bees and the crops from which the whole community benefits.”
Matt Pitt of the Cornish Black Bee Company
In May 2014 Bosavern invited Matt Pitt of the Cornish Black Bee Company to create a traditional farmer/beekeeper relationship, whereby the crops, fruits and wildflowers on the farm would all benefit from the bees’ pollination services and the farm would provide an outlet for Matt to sell the honey produced by the bees on the farm.
In July 2014 we welcomed Matt and 4 hives of native Cornish Black Bees to a sheltered spot on the farm.
Since then we have run, in partnership, 3 Introduction to Bee-keeping courses, and a Honey Harvesting workshop, training 20 people in total. We have also rescued two swarms and safely re-homed them.
Volunteers can work with Matt to become ‘Bee Hosts’
Matt checks our bees fortnightly to make sure they are healthy and behaving themselves. He times his visits for late afternoon to minimise disruption to allotment users. Strong shampoo and soap, especially anything coconut based will attract the bees and changes in atmospheric pressure eg stormy weather on the way, will make the bees more agitated. If bees are bothering you, lower head, keep hands low and walk away. Others suggest that turning around slowly three times can disorientate the bees and causes them to fly away to regain their bearings.