To Bee or Not To Bee?

In 1913 Edgar Henry Thorne, a Wragby carpenter, was asked by local schoolmaster Mr. Mumby to make him a beehive.  So began the business of E.H.Thorne (Beehives) Ltd. which to this day thrives at Wragby, albeit now located in much larger premises at the aptly named Beehive Industrial Estate, at Rand.  The original wooden office and showroom is now sited in the grounds of the modern premises, as a museum to the company’s humble beginnings.

Our gardening guru Mary had arranged for a group to tour the premises and to see just what was now made there.  And it’s not just beehives!  Whilst modern machinery saws the cedar wood (Canadian and British), and cuts the sections of beehives to shape, older equipment melts beeswax and produces sheets of this which go to candle makers across the country.  The shop sells everything that beekeepers need to care for their creatures, and to make honey.

We were initially given an introductory talk by Rebecca Thorne, in the restaurant where we had lunched, and then after answering questions from us, she led everyone out to meet her father, and we split into two groups to make the tour, which included ladies stitching the beekeepers suits which they sell (the ladies will also make or alter your curtains!), as well as watching other ladies thread heated wire through beeswax sheets which would go into the hives.

All in all, a very unusual afternoon, and the shop and restaurant are open to anyone to call in and visit whenever you fancy.  Thanks Mary.