The British Bee Keeping Association

In celebration of our partnership with McQueens Flowers and the British Beekeepers Association for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, we speak to Warwick Francis, Membership Secretary from Twickenham Beekeepers Association to find out more about how we can #Savethebees.

Tell us about yourself, your role and the British Beekeepers Association
I became interested in beekeeping about 10 years ago and it has now totally absorbed all of my spare time. I work as treasurer and membership secretary for my local beekeeping association, in Twickenham, and I'm also in charge of coordinating swarm collection.

What kind of scents do you like?
I like strong botanical scents, herbs, spices and citrus.

What is your favourite thing about your job?
The most enjoyable aspects of working for my local beekeeping Association is having the ability to talk to the public about bees and garden and helping them by showing how they can help the local environment and the plight of pollinating insects.

And the most challenging aspect of your job?
The most challenging part of my role is probably being swarm coordinator and all craziness that that entails. On busy days the phone can be going non-stop. It’s wonderful to be able to collect the bees and to be able to help members of the public. You have to tackle each swarm differently. Sometimes it can simply be a case of brushing them into a cardboard box. Sometimes it’s a bit more tricky…

Is there a smell that holds significance to you or reminds you of a point in your life?
The smell of Johnson's baby powder, that reminds me of my mother.

What is your favourite thing about living/working in London?
My favourite thing about being in London is the fact that we have so much green space for a city which is a world capital. And the bees love it.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Stop concentrating on the problem and find a distraction, you will work it out when you are doing something else.

Find out more about the British Bee Keepers Association here.