Richard keeps about 30 colonies of his own and a few for other people. He runs beekeeping courses. He is particularly interested in beekeeping history, books and photography.

Westbury u3a was treated to a wonderful, informative talk on honeybees by beekeeper, author and co-editor of ‘BeeCraft’, Richard Rickitt, on 9 July, giving insight into the remarkable intelligence and abilities of these amazing creatures.

They can instruct their compound eyes to seek out particular colours, and their waggle dance gives accurate information of locations of nectar and pollen. To produce 1lb of honey, the females must visit 2 million flowers and fly 50,000 miles! Fanning their wings keeps hives at 32.5°C, regardless of location.

We really must help local bees and beekeepers by:

· Buying locally produced honey, not supermarket mixtures which are just sugar and from bees on antibiotics.

· Keeping dandelions and ivy in our gardens.

· Planting nectar-rich crocus bulbs as they are a vital source of early pollen for honeybees.

We strongly recommend seeking out further information from Richard by buying his book and, if you get it, his scrummy honey!