Monsters

So that was really something. On average, a bee will only travel around 500 yards from its hive, so it’s a very local food.”

Some older readers may remember Colin as a former teacher and Director of Learning at Luton Sixth Form College. Yet in 2009, retirement in the traditional sense was never an option for Colin, and he embarked on his Plan Bee.

“I’ve got between 30 and 40 hives in five apiaries, which is pretty large scale. So I would call myself a slightly professional beekeeper.

“I must know hundreds of people in Luton who come to buy my honey. If you've got local produce then there's the opportunity to have that relationship and rapport between producer and customer, which is very important for the community. It's a sense of belonging. That has become really important.”

“There has been a great shift in public attitude to bees. People have really heard the message of how essential they are to the environment as pollinators, and essential to our food supplies. I’m very much an environmentalist and I’m still blown away by the wonder of bees as creatures.

“Bees and beekeeping gives you ways of understanding the world that you live in, in terms of science, biology, agriculture and meteorology.”

If you would like to purchase Colin’s wonderful honey, drop him an email to purchase directly or to find a local stockist: hall.colin@gmail.com