Last Sunday I asked my Strawberry farm friends for space to plonk some hives. It was a timely request. Mrs Strawberry farmer is a member of the local W.I. and the W.I. big resolution this year concerns the plight of the honey bee. I was asked if could come along to the meeting, the very next Tuesday, and say a few words about the problems that are faced by honey bees. I tried to get a handle on what was required but said yes anyway. I did some research on CCD [Colony Collapse Disorder]. As you will have gathered I have been doing quite a bot of research of bees recently anyway. The research took me to a few places and interesting articles. I made some notes and turned up at the appointed place at the appointed time, hair combed, clean hands and in a clean shirt.
The lady who was in charge of the resolution explained the resolution. It gave me a steer as to where to take the talk. I was the only bloke in the room of thirty ladies. I was given a chair adjacent to the top table which did nothing for my nerves. The meeting was called to order and one of the ladies bashed out "Jerusalem" on the piano as we all sung along. It was quite moving. The head lady made the announcements and thanked the judges that had come along to "mark" the cake competition and the flower arranging competition, both of which had been marked before the meeting started. There was a neat row of silver cups on the top table for the prize giving later in the evening. The agenda having been set the head lady gave an introduction to the resolution and introduced me as a "Real Beekeeper". I stood before thirty ladies sitting a tables arranged in two columns and four rows set in a chevron. It was a neat layout. The tables were covered with neat tablecloths. The ladies sat up straight in their chairs ready to receive information. The meeting was held in a brick built Village hall from 1908, it was all so English. If you imagine what it was like, your mental picture would probably be spot on.
I delivered what I had in my notes and that which I had rehearsed. I then opened the floor to questions. I answered them as best I could. I took about a dozen questions which seemed satisfy everyone. There was a natural break in the proceeding so the head lady stepped in and thanked me on behalf of the ladies present and adjourned the meeting for tea, sandwiches and cake. As I was a guest my plate was loaded up. A number of the ladies came over for more questions which I was happy to answer.
As the meeting was about to be called to order I excused myself so they could do the presentations. One lady caught me at the door and asked me my name and number. How do I handle this? Luckily she was the press officer. I got a call during the week from a W.I. lady who asked if I would like to go on the W.I. speakers circuit. We pay £30 an evening! I declined but said I would be happy to take them round the apiary if Mrs Strawberry farmer could manage the logistics. I said I would probably be able to do 40 minutes on bee life cycle later in the year. She said that would excellent and booked me for June next year. Perhaps it something I can do in the winter evenings. It will be handy if it turns a few quid.
A few days later a friend of mine asked me if a knew of an "expert beekeeper" that recently gave talk to the W.I. One of his colleagues was at the meeting. Apparently she enjoyed it, so that's good.
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