Cherington is the first of the five fetes we have Shipston’s stand at in August. It is of course at our 2nd Monday home so we knew where to go! The fete takes place in the field to the side of the Hall, with the flower and produce side of the event taking place in the main hall. Despite it being our ‘home’ this is only the second ‘Cherington and Stourton Show’ we have had our stand at.
The select team of Gary and Caroline Thomas, Mick Moore, Mike Clarke and Paul and Julia Neal arrived bright and early at 0900hrs as they were really keen to have everything up and ready for the show opening. Whilst we were not in the main field (‘we couldn’t put you in there with your double gazebo’ which was interesting as there were several double gazebos on the main field) we were next to the dog arena so had lots of passing trade (and their owners).
Once the gazebo was up in it’s allocated space the challenge was to work out the best layout. We essentially have 2 areas; a couple of tables for the honey etc. we sell, and then a space where we ‘educate the public and beekeepers in the craft of beekeeping and promote the importance of bees in the environment.’ as per our charitable objectives. We were next to the fence to the children’s play area and that was perfect to attach our information boards to. The public were going to be coming down from the main arena area to our left, so we wanted our banners on the end of the gazebo. We put the honey tables near the centre of the gazebo so that they stayed in the shade all day, and our new ‘feathers’ really help people to spot us.
Now we normally take the observation hive to village shows however we were unable to get one ready for this one. Plan B was to use the virtual hive that Shipston Beekeepers has. For those not familiar with a virtual hive it is a standard brood box with frames, but each frame holds a double-sided photograph of a real frame, with each side of each frame showing different features one would find in a honey bee colony. It’s a useful teaching aid and, importantly for the show, one of the frames does have a queen on it. We set up a hive with a stand, floor, virtual hive brood, QE, a super with 4 frames with foundation, crown board and roof. Mick Moore took control of it and once he said ‘would you like to see inside a bee hive’ people were hooked. And there was a queen to be found, and stickers awarded!
Now I have to be honest, having arrived at 0900hrs the stand, displays and honey table were up by 1030….and the show didn’t open until 1300hrs. But the team were grateful for the early start…once they had been suitably bribed with ’99’ ice creams! It was a long day but very successful; apart from the honey sales a number of people expressed interest in our 2027 Introduction to Beekeeping course, we talked to lots of people about the YLAH and we had an offer of an out apiary near Shipston.
Next, the Brailes show, Saturday 08 August, where some of our new beekeepers who attend the Wednesday beginner sessions are entering honey from the training apiary colonies they have been looking after into the honey show.