Few occupations are as soothingly pastoral as beekeeping, and this is certainly true for Philip Morgan, a former Metropolitan police officer who fell in love with bees at the tender age of 12. But it wasn’t until Philip transferred to serve in Dorset and start a family in 1978, that he was able to fulfil a lifelong passion and become a beekeeper.

“My first encounter with bees was when I was about 12 and living in a small town in Devon. We had a swarm arrive and settle on a blackberry plant on my father’s allotment. He knew a beekeeper friend who collected the swarm by putting a cardboard box underneath and banged the branch, all the bees fell into the box. Before the bees went into the box, he said if I was not nervous, to put my hand into the swarm. I have always had a great fascination with nature and slowly put my hand in. It was the most amazing feeling looking at my wrist and not being able to see the rest of my hand as it was covered in bees. I wouldn’t recommend this and would never encourage anyone, let alone a child to do it, however, this started my love of bees.”

A member of Dorchester & Weymouth Bee Keeper Association and an official Swarm Collector, Philip is often being called upon to collect bee swarms and now he is searching for another site to house an apiary and is appealing to our readers to help him find one.

He said: “When you collect a swarm, you don’t know where they are from or whom they belong to. You don’t know if they may have a disease, so it is important to quarantine them until you have had chance to inspect them. I also want to start breeding my own queens so will need an apiary to do this.”

“If at all possible I would like an apiary site within an eight-mile radius of Bere Regis however any location would be considered. All it needs is a reasonably quiet area preferably away from humans and livestock that would be accessible by vehicle or garden/camping trolley.”

In the UK we have 270 species of bees of which 250 are solitary, but there is only one type of honeybee.

Philip added: “Bees are fascinating creatures and can be described as a superorganism as thousands of bees work for each other in a 40 litre box, in perfect harmony, with no fighting, no bullying, no domestic disputes. I get immense pleasure just watching them go about their business and trying to make their lives as pleasurable as possible. If only people could follow their example the world would be a much better place.”

If anyone has a possible site for an apiary, please get in touch with Philip on 07870 957036 or 01929 472283.

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