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Bryan Hopper – a beekeeping biography

From the reminiscences of Bryan Hopper in November 2012

Bryan’s first recollection of beekeeping was of helping his dad, Ted, when he was 12

or 13 years old, during the early fifties in Stratton, where he went to school.

He had a brother, but he wasn’t at all interested in the bees – the only hobby they

later had in common was motorcycling, along with their father and grandfather.

Ted Hopper and his wife Cis

on his Triumph Tiger 70, near Newquay in Cornwall in 1950

His father had just one hive in the garden of the family home at Merton Avenue,

Stratton, where in 1955 he was extremely proud to have taken a whole cwt of honey

– 112 lbs!!! The bees were foraging on urban gardens in the Moonrakers area and on

allotments, fields and hedgerows where Penhill now is – he obviously had the right

bees, the right place at the right time! Unfortunately, Bryan has never been able to

come close to such a harvest!

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Bryan remembers that in the years immediately after the war, there was of course,

still sugar rationing and beekeepers were given an extra allowance to keep their bees

going in winter. He recalls how his mother used to store this extra supply in the airing

cupboard to keep it dry. Unfortunately the cat decided to interfere with some

electrical wiring and caused a fire. Bryan says he remembers to this day, the smell of

toffee as the burning sugar flowed out of the airing cupboard, through the ceiling and

down the walls!!!

He also recalls his mum making marrow jam because fruit was short. She added

ginger to give it some flavour and ever since then, Bryan hasn’t liked ginger!!!

Bryan’s dad was a carpenter who worked for the Council and he had a workshop

downstairs. He used to supplement his income by making kitchen cabinets – two

cupboards and a flap down worktop – which he used to sell at Swindon cattle market

in Old Town.

Ted Hopper’s bee buddy was Ken Clark*, who had some very gentle queens from the

Reverend Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey. They swapped ideas about best hives and

techniques. However, Ken had problems with swarms so Brian’s dad decided to make

a Snelgrove board to help the situation.

* see Appendix

They both persevered, fitting in beekeeping with work and weather and they had

great faith in their new system.

Together, they also had an apiary at Dr Prentice’s house, a rambling old manor house

in Blunsdon approached by a line of very productive lime trees – now a housing

estate and an old people’s home. Ted made the hives and they were positioned

about 6” above the ground. Dr Prentice was rewarded with a few pots of honey, but

the hives were under a stand of horse chestnut trees and only got direct sunlight at

midday, so weren’t very productive. Eventually they moved the hives to a small

compound which Ted had built and which was out in the morning sun, and this

improved things.

Bryan married his first wife in 1959 and they purchased a property in Shelley St,

Swindon, close by Radnor St cemetery. After being “helper” for his dad, Bryan now

had his own hives in an orchard alongside the house.

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Bryan, like his father was in the carpentry trade and they both used to make hives –

his dad even used to make frames.

Later, Bryan moved to Nythe Rd, Stratton, where unfortunately there was nowhere

to put a hive but two years later, he moved to their present bungalow in

Greenmeadow. This was close by Pickford’s garden centre in Haydon End Lane,

where he had two hives. He also kept chickens and ducks. The land is now covered

with houses after Mr Pickford accepted an offer he couldn’t refuse! Bryan now had to

get on his bike to find an alternative site, which he found on a farm at Blunsdon, and

which is his present apiary.

Bryan’s father’s bee colleague, Ken, had his bees at the Stanton Estate close by the

church in an orchard – Ken had knee problems and had to give up, but Bryan’s father

carried on. Both Bryan’s father and Ken and of course, Bryan himself were all

members of the Swindon Beekeepers’ Association. He remembers Norman Lovegrove

as Chairman and Mr and Mrs Farhall as prominent members.

Meetings were held at Drove Road School and then at Churchfields School, where the

club members used to manage a couple of hives for the school children – in the late

forties and fifties, this was part of the curriculum. Bryan wonders whether Health and

Safety regulations would allow this these days!

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Bryan clearly remembers the Ceremonial of the Mead, held in late October, which

must have been started in the mid fifties and continued into the mid sixties. He thinks

that in the late fifties there were about a hundred members and a good half would

turn out in formal dress in the Ballroom at the Town Hall, Swindon. Everyone would

bring food, including wonderful scones, sandwiches and cakes - those made by Mrs

Farehall were especially noted!

Bottles of mead were also brought to the ceremony and Stan Govier used to bring a

whole demi-john of it for display and tasting. The golden elixir took pride of place in

the middle of the table and was decanted into glasses when the bottles were empty!

The Mayor and Mayoress were in attendance and toasts were raised to the Queen,

the Drone and the Worker and of course, to the Mead! Also during the evening there

were speeches and a presentation of the “Best in Show” trophy and “Blue Riband”

from the year’s Honey Show.

For a long time Bryan has been making prize-winning mead, experimenting with

different kinds of white wine yeasts and honey, with an improver and nutrient. His

latest batch was made from the washings of spent honeycomb. He recommends

using a hydrometer to test the starting specific gravity, so that you can produce mead

with just the right sweetness and a good alcohol content of 12-13%.

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Bryan’s hives are standard Nationals with bottom space and his bees are mostly

foraging on hedgerow flowers, especially bramble, which is why he doesn’t usually

take much honey until the autumn. He has noted the increased interest in improving

one’s beekeeping amongst the members, which is a good sign for the future. He still

has hives and hive parts he made 50 years ago from marine ply.

Although he concedes that more modern styles of beekeeping will probably take

over, like the plastic hive, he still prefers using natural materials. He points out that

bees don’t look for extra-specially insulated spaces in the wild, indeed they are

probably insulators themselves when they take up residence in cavity walls – there

happen to have been two colonies at the Haydon Wick Club building, where the

Swindon Association meets every month.

Bryan continues to play an important part on the Committee of Swindon Beekeepers’

Association and remains a modest, gentle and well respected member. He has been

married to his present wife, Dorothy for 12 years – she is allergic to stings, so he is no

longer able to keep bees in his garden. Finally, this account would not be complete

without mentioning his twice being the winner of the much coveted annual Skittles

Killer prize for being the last man in!!!

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* Appendix

Email from Ken Clark, now 90 years old, about his memories of

beekeeping with Bryan’s father, Ted Hopper.