St Bede's Bees get BBC Buzzing

When BBC Radio Sussex decided to interview Mr Jonathan Coote, Chairman of the Sussex Beekeepers’ Association, he suggested that they should do so from the hives at St Bede’s School. Mr Coote, wearing his other hat (and Veil) as Apiary manager to the Eastbourne Beekeepers’ Association had helped establish the bees here a year ago, and he has regularly used the School as a training ground for those new to Beekeeping.

By 7.00 am on the morning of Friday14 May, an outside broadcast van was positioned on the School lawn and was in contact, via satellite, with the studios of Radio Sussex. A technical glitch meant that the interview could not be conducted next to the beehives, and a section of hive was carefully removed and brought to the van.

Mr Simon Jenkins, BBC Audience Editor, bravely donned a full beekeeper’s suit and veil to conduct the interview, which was broadcast live during Neil Pringle’s Sussex Breakfast programme. An estimated 140,000 listeners will have heard at least one of the four sections of the interview, which is also available for the next week via the BBC Sussex Radio website.