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My interest in bees comes from memories of my father keeping two hives at the bottom of the garden when I was young  - and of course a love of honey!

Having done my research, read the books and even been on a days beekeeping course I went to collect my first beehive and before I even loaded the hive into the back of the truck I received the first of many stings.

It has been a steep learning curve, a rollercoaster ride of happy successes punctuated by disappointing failures along the way. None the less, the more I have learned about the honey bee, the more fascinated I have become by these industrious little creatures.

I started with a single hive on our smallholding which the first season produced a good quantity of honey made all the more sweet as it marked the success an exciting new venture.

The next year I expanded to two hives when I caught a swarm of bees in the Hotel garden and then another down beside the Sprouston Fishing Hut. However, the bees did not produce as much honey. I discovered the success of my bees was dependent on what crops my neighbours were growing. It had become clear that our smallholding was not the best location for our hives as we were surrounded by large fields with limited foraging opportunities for the bees.

I decided to move our hives to the hotel garden and at the same time expanded the number to four. It became obvious very quickly that this was a far more suitable place for the bees and they were going to thrive on the variety of flowers and trees in the Ednam House garden and surrounding areas of Kelso.

In 2010 the honey featured on the Ednam House breakfast menu for the first time and was so popular that it became evident that if we were to have our own honey all year round we needed more hives.

In 2011 the apiary has expanded to 9 hives and despite this rapid expansion and the very disappointing summer weather I was delighted to weigh the harvest in late August at 70kg of clear, delicately flavoured honey.

The plan for 2112 is to consolidate the apiary and keep the number of hives around 8 or 9 including a queen rearing nucleus. If I can rear and select my own queens this will give me more control over my hives and a step closer to being a true beekeeper, not just someone who keeps bees.

I will keep you posted .In the meantime enjoy the fruits of their labour on our toasted homemade bread at breakfast while the Tweed flows gently by and the bees work their magic on the flowers in the beds at the window.