Since my last podcast, I recorded a couple of webinars about natural beekeeping in top bar hives, and if you were not able to catch them at the time, you can find them by going to biobees.com/webinar

I have just come back from a weekend at Embercombe - a centre in South Devon that teaches aspects of sustainability to people of all ages and backgrounds. There was a group of - I think - 15 beekeepers who wanted to learn about natural beekeeping in top bar hives, and it was great fun to work with them and with Tim and Jess and the other peope at Embercombe. The weather was warm and sunny and we were able to go through some of the hives, which had all come through a very cold winter.

If you are in the UK and have done a year or more of beekeeping, and now you want to learn more about top bar hives, there is another opportunity to do an Intermediate course in North Devon later this year. The course will be over the weekend of the 8th 9th and 10th of July at Welcombe, near Barnstaple. Anyone interested should visit the Yarner Trust web site, which is yarnertrust.org

I will also be doing beginners events at Embercombe and Welcombe during the summer - take a look at biobees.com/training for details.

If anyone wants me to run a class in their local area, just drop me an email - [email protected] - and we can discuss it.

I'm going to play you the snippet of my chat with Dave Williams in a moment, followed by part of a recording of a song written for me by a delightful young singer/songwriter named Lara Conley, who I met one day in my home town when she was busking in the market square. We get a lot of buskers here, but very few who I would want to listen to for long. Lara has a lovely voice and I think you will enjoy the song she I am going to play you. This is actually part of the draft first version of the song - she will be recording the final version soon, so think of this as an exclusive preview.