A mission to save OUR BEES

Ahead of National Don’t Step On A Bee Day on 10 July, Kt Brewster explains how more women are becoming custodians of the UK’s sadly declining species

- SERENA SHORES

Every single morning, without fail, beekeeper Kt Brewster, 41, starts her day by checking on her hives.

Kt, from Horning, Norfolk, has two hives, each containing around 40,000 mainly female honeybees.

‘I call my bees “my girls” and visit them every day,’ she says. ‘But it’s not just to inspect them – I’m fascinated by these complex, amazing creatures and feel they could teach us a thing or two!’

Her love of bees started when she was a child. ‘I would run around the garden, following bumblebees from flower to flower,’ she remembers.

But it was only as she got older that she considered beekeeping as a hobby.

‘I suffered a terrible accident with my horse in 2016, which left me unable to carry on life as it was before. I was told I wouldn’t ride again and I needed something for me,’ she says. ‘Bees seemed the natural solution.’

Kt started watching Stewart Spinks from The Norfolk Honey Company on YouTube, did his online course and then spent three experience days with him. ‘He not only showed me how much was involved, but most importantly, taught me the peace and tranquillity of bees,’ says Kt.

In order to start her own apiary, Kt had to buy a full bee suit, a hive tool, special nitrile gloves with long sleeves, and the ‘smoker’ – a metal tube with bellows on one side. She also needed hives, choosing new lighter poly boxes – honey can be heavy – which are better insulated, to keep her bees warm in the winter and cool in the summer.