Shutford kicks off the village show season this year so it’s our first time dusting off the leaflets, table cloths, table stands and, of course, the demonstration hive.
Shutford is a small village event with no produce competitions*, so no honey classes to enter, for example.
(* Well I say no competitions but the Shipston Beekeepers stand was visited by one chap who was quite proud of the fact that his dog got 2nd place in the ‘waggiest tail’ competition. )
For those new to Shipston and our stand at village shows, the dual aims are to promote beekeeping and educate the public about bees, in line with our charitable aims, and to sell products from the hive so that the Branch, and individual members, can get some return on their investment in time and effort keeping bees. If members want to sell their hive products on the stand we ask them to help with the stand at some point in the day (setting up, during the day, or stripping out) and we ask for a 10% donation to the Branch of the member’s sales. We don’t ask for this 10% donation from Members who ‘lead’ on getting the stand to a show (e.g. liaising with the village committee over the stand booking, collecting and returning the stand items to/from the training apiary etc.).
Shutford provided a gazebo for the stand which was useful as it saved us getting ours out (and wet!), and a table. We do have our own tables and chairs and the first task is to get everything out and to start setting up the tables and displays.
One of the best ways to get the public interested in bees and beekeeping is the observation hive, provided by David Blower MB. Children absolutely love trying to spot the queen (as do a fair few adults) and we have ‘I found the queen stickers’ to give to anyone who spots the queen (or gets the general area – we like to be generous with the stickers).
Sales were slow but mid-afternoon the sun did come out and numbers picked up. Some Shipston members came and said hello. It’s always nice to see Members visit the stand. Sales were probably not spectacular but steady, and we had some interest in beekeeping and quite a few leaflets were taken by members of the public.
And at the end of the show, before packing everything up, David Blower thought some of the helpers on the day should also be, ahem, hydrated.
From Left to right:
Dave Kelleher (Shipston Secretary), Gary Thomas (Treasurer and Membership Secretary), David Blower MB (Training and Training Apiary Manager) and Mike Clarke (Training Apiary Groundsman and Wednesday Tutor). Margery Blower is behind the camera!