Volunteer Voices: Becoming a Dockyard Beekeeper
Volunteer Voices: Becoming a Dockyard Beekeeper
Volunteer Beekeeper, Paul, reflects upon how he joined the Dockyard and helps look after the apiary onsite.
How did I ever become a beekeeper?
This is a question that I am often asked and it is not an easy thing to answer!
I left Gillingham Technical School in 1964 and started work as an Engineering Apprentice with Blaw Knox Ltd. at their works on Rochester Esplanade. As an apprentice, I would work for six months of the year on the factory floor, going from section to section on each yearly rotation. The other 6 months I spent working in the drawing office preparing detail and layout drawings for the paving equipment that the company manufactured.
My time ended after four years, and then I took up a position working in the companyโs drawing office as a Design Draughtsman. Two years later, I left and went to work for Irwin and Partners, which was a contract drawing office in Wadden, near Croydon. Here I worked designing jigs and fixtures for the automotive industry, mostly Ford and Vauxhall. I also worked as a production engineer involved in the repair and refurbishment of Naval Sonar Equipment. After several happy years, the travelling got the better of me so I returned to Blaw Knox and bought a house in Gillingham as it was much cheaper than buying one in the London Area.
Career Change
Then at the ripe old age of 28, I decided that I needed a complete career change. So, I took myself off to the University of Londonโs Goldsmithsโ College in New Cross and read Education for four years. After graduating, I became a Design and Technology Teacher.
Following completion of my degree course, my wife and I started our family, resulting in the births of two great children, a son and a daughter.
I taught in several schools during my 30-year career, but the two main ones were The Howard School and Rainham Mark Grammar School in Rainham Kent. Where I worked as a Deputy Head of Years 4 and 5 (now Years 10 and 11), Head of School Technology and Work Experience Co-Ordinator.
So, all of this work experience gave me a wide range of skills, both personal, practical and theoretical. Hence, I became a very good problem solver and very hands-on. You could say that I am โa can-doโ type of person.
When I was about 55 years old, my wife and I went to the Amsterdam Floriade. This is a 10-yearly flower festival. They build a village of log cabins in which a whole range of different things to do with the flower trade are displayed. In one of these cabins on the back wall was an enormous observation beehive. I saw it and was instantly captivated by these amazing little insects.
My First Beehive
Five years later, I retired from full-time teaching, and that year went to the Kent County Show. Here I met a lovely lady called Sue from the Medway Beekeepersโ Association (MBKA). She told me about the life of the honeybee, and as a result, I undertook a 12-week Introduction to Beekeeping Course.
A few weeks later, whilst talking to an acquaintance about what I intended to do now that I was retiring, it turned out that he kept bees!
So, I bought a bee suit and worked with him for a whole year, after which he gave me my first colony of bees. I set them up in my garden, and he became my Mentor; I attended courses to help further my knowledge, and after a couple of years, we became Bee Buddies and supported each other for many years until he moved out of the area.
I have since mentored several recruits, and they have all become very good beekeepers. As someone once told me, โYou can take the teacher out of teaching, but you can never take the teacher out of the manโ. Probably true.
Building the Hive
I worked on the MBKA Committee for several years using my skills to run their website, monthly newsletter, and to work as the Membership Secretary.
While I was working at MBKA a colleague asked if I would be interested in helping The Chatham Historic Dockyard to set up an Apiary. This we did, then after the first year, he left us to help the Royal Engineers do the same thing. I stayed on to Mentor Vicky and Chloe, and now, after five years, Vicky and I are Bee Buddies, and the Apiary goes from strength to strength.
Beekeeping is one of those fascinating activities that just keeps on giving. There is always something new to discover. It is very hands-on and needs an analytical approach when dealing with issues. As a fellow beekeeper once said, “The problem with bees is – they never read the same book as we do!โ
Every year brings its own issues – if itโs not weather-related, then we have to deal with viruses and alien species of insects.
Working in Partnership
We are delightedย to be partneringย withย Brightly Softwareย for meaningful impact within our local environment and community.
