History

John Scammell

John was a local farmer who lived at Batson Farm, Adber, Trent, Sherborne.

He kept a few hives for the honey and also to pollinate the blossom on the cider apple trees in his orchard.

He is seen here dressed in his trilby hat, suit and waistcoat, cigarette lit in his mouth, looking very pleased with his new swarm, much the way we all do today!

The Revival of Sherborne BKA

Reading about the death of Norm Hart in the last issue of Honeycraft prompted Mike Whittick, the BSBKA president, to write this article about how Sherborne BKA was revived in the 1970s.

At the beginning of the 1970s there was a shortage of sugar so I tried to get a number of beekeepers to join together and bought some in bulk; 1cwt bags from the Danish Bacon Company in Poole. To find the beekeepers I was given a list by the regional bee inspector Arthur Worth. I wrote to a long list of beekeepers and suggested that we restart the Sherborne Beekeepers branch. There were many keen people and we soon had a good branch started. Col. Thornton-Wood was president; L.E.D. Knight was the chairman others were Rolly Rowe, Norman Hart and many others; dead now.

I could not find out much about the previous Sherborne Branch though a silver cup did appear with dates in the 1930s and 40s.

Mike Whittick

John Howcraft