Care worker turned amateur beekeeper keeps care home residents sweet

Amateur beekeeper Louise Parry has been keeping residents at her care home sweet by letting them try on her netted protective headgear and giving them a taste of honey from her hives.

Care worker Louise Parry, who works at Wrexham’s Hillbury care home, has been bee keeping for five years after her husband Carl Rawlinson became interested in starting an apiary at their home in Rhosnesni near Wrexham.

Beekeeper: 'I was not at all keen'

Louise Parry said: “I was not at all keen when he first mentioned it but he went on a course to learn the necessary skills and when he got started I soon became more interested.

“Now I’m as fascinated as he is about how the honey bees develop and produce such a sweet sticky concoction.”

Louise and Carl’s bees produced 100 jars of honey last year and the couple hope to reap similar success this summer.

12 bees collectively make a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime

Her efforts are all the more impressive as an average worker bee will only produce about one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. So, it takes 12 bees to make just one teaspoon of honey.

The care worker has showed residents her hives’ honeycomb frames to highlight how the honey is made. Her honey has been used in the care home’s meals after she handed some jars to the care home’s cook.

Ms Parry said: “It is so much more delicious than any kind of shop bought honey, a different kind of product entirely to the industrial mass distributed commercial honeys.

“When I brought in the honeycomb to Hillbury people were eagerly sticking spoons in to see what it tasted like and they were completely amazed.”

She said she now regularly gives talks about her latest bee-keeping experiences to the residents and fellow staff.

One resident who had listened to Louise’s beekeeping tales was Peter Hodder. Peter Hodder said: “I’m especially interested because I recall that when I was younger, my uncle was a beekeeper. It’s truly fascinating how the bees work so hard to produce such a health-giving substance.”

As care workers we're all 'busy as bees'

Care home cook Merv Forward said no cook should be without a jar of honey as “it’s one of the nectars of life.”

Merv Forward said: “Honey is incredibly versatile because in can be used with just about any cooking method, from grilling to roasting, and it can be used in recipes served either hot or cold.

“I must say the honey from Louise’s hives is absolutely wonderful and it adds a unique flavour buzz and delicate floral sweetness to everything.”

The beekeeper has worked at the care home, run by Pendine Park Care Organisation for eight years.

Ms Parry said: “Being a carer can be quite demanding, it’s a full on job, we’re all busy as bees ourselves, so it’s nice to have interests to go home to and de-stress.

The care worker currently keeps two hives, although at one stage she did have three.

But Ms Parry added: “A typical hive can contain thousands of bees. It is almost impossible for us to keep an exact count. But some Queen bees can lay up to three thousand eggs in a day, producing a constant stream of the workers needed to keep the honey flowing.

“One thing that’s important is never to take all the honey from a hive because it is essentially the food source for the bees. It is honey that keeps the hive going and helps them overwinter and stay healthy.

“And for the rest of us it’s great to eat on hot buttered toast.”

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