A TASTE OF Yorkshire honey

West Yorkshire police officer Richard Terry chats to gardening writer Sally Clifford about his busy pastime as a beekeeper

- Sally Clifford

Growing up in Australia Richard Terry has always had a passion for the great outdoors. Living in a flat and open landscape Richard, who was a baby when his parents emigrated, recalls his fascination with ants’ nests as a young child. “I had an obsession as a kid with ants’ nests. I have always liked the colony structure of everything and how it works.”

Richard was 21 when he came back to live in England. He’d been working as a gold miner in Australia but his grandfather died and Richard and his brother returned. “Then I met the only girl in England who didn’t want to live in Australia!” he laughs.

Richard, who is a full-time police officer with West Yorkshire Police, says he had always fancied beekeeping. Eleven years ago, he took an allotment on a council-owned site close to his Heckmondwike home and asked permission to keep a hive.

Enrolling on a summer course with Bradford Beekeepers Association taught him the basics but, as Richard admits, a beekeeper is always learning.

“The basics of it is really quite simple to do, but to become a beekeeper it is something you are always learning and there is always something to know about bees.”

Following the course, Richard set up two hives. “I started really slowly, building up over the years and then you realise everybody wants bees.”

Richard asked permission to put a hive on the roof of the former Batley Police Station, where he was working at the time. He has since switched sites to his current workplace, Dewsbury Police Station.

Interestingly, while many may believe the countryside is perfect for the pollinators, Richard says despite its town centre location, Dewsbury is proving to be the most productive hive due to its close proximity to the canal and railway line.