BEE HAPPY!

Charity Crewe meets Stacy Cronly-Dillon who gave up a glamorous career to become a full-time beekeeper …

Did you know that bees taste with their feet and produce only a 12th of a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime? You will learn this and many other intriguing facts about honeybees if you sign up for a Bee Experience with Stacy Cronly-Dillon, beekeeper and owner of Sunnyfields Apiaries near Bungay.

Stacy switched careers, from a “glamorous but stressful job” marketing for large food and drink companies, to that of a full-time beekeeper just shy of five years ago. This was an unplanned move. Although Stacy had a love of nature from a young age - spending a lot of time exploring a beautiful wood in Essex, where her grandfather was the warden - she fell into beekeeping quite by chance. After having her interest piqued by reading Santa Montefiore’s novel, The Beekeeper’s Daughter, she signed up for a beekeeping course. Then, before the course even started, she witnessed her first swarm. “An enormous cloud of bees flew over our garden and settled in our neighbour’s orchard,” she remembers. Stacy was awed by the sight, and felt it was a sign. The many beekeeping courses that followed had her hooked, and before long she had built her first two hives. By her second-year of beekeeping, she had twenty hives. At the same time, she was finding her corporate career increasingly stressful, “It got to breaking point on my 40th birthday,” she says. This led Stacy to some frank discussions with her husband, Mark, about turning her obsession with bees into a new career.

Stacy was keen to impart her newfound bee wisdom to a wider audience. I wanted “everyone to understand how amazing bees are,” she beams. “I also want to let people know how vital insects are to the health of our planet.” She could frightened, Stacy is reassuring. “I had 226 visitors last year, and I was the only one to get stung!” she laughs. She will show you how to distinguish between different honeybees - including worker bees, drones and the queen - and explains their various roles. see that not only was there an appetite for beekeeping courses, but also for learning about bees and seeing them at work in their hives. She hit upon the idea of the 2-hour Bee Experience. These experiences are perfect for people who don’t want to commit to a day-long course, and sit through a lot of technical detail, which Stacy admits can, “get a bit dull.”

After the hive inspection, there are refreshments and a chance to taste some of Sunnyfields’ own sumptuous honey. Stacy will impart more fascinating information about how the honey is produced. I was interested to learn that not only the taste of the honey, but also the depth of colour and how quickly it crystallises and goes hard, are dependent on the flower the bees have been feeding on. Two hives will produce roughly 60lb of honey in a year, and bees evolved from wasps millions of years ago.

Stacy’s Bee Experiences were a hit from the off. When she was still living in Essex, she featured in an episode of TOWIE, after the cast signed up for an experience. Although she enjoyed their visit, she didn’t know much about the programme. “I am more of an All Creatures Great and Small person,” she smiles.

During the experience, you get dressed up in a beekeeping suit and visit the hives. You are invited to handle the frames full of bees - if you want to. For those who are l To book, go to: sunnyfieldshoney.com

As Stacy’s business grew, she needed more space, so she moved from Essex to Hedenham in 2021. Last year, she was shortlisted for the Experience of the Year at the Visit England Excellence Awards. This is not surprising given that the tours appeal to all age groups and take place in the beautiful setting of Woodhouse Farm, which is nestled beside a ninety-nine-acre ancient woodland and surrounded by fields and wildflowers. Another big draw is Stacy herself. She is a natural communicator and not unlike the teacher, Miss Honey, from Roald Dahl’s Matilda, “Some curious warmth that was almost tangible shone out of Miss Honey’s face when she spoke,” could have been written about Stacy!

Bee Experiences take place until the end of August. Visitors can either book onto a group experience for £65, or book a private session for up to 7 people for £165.

Stacy also offers beekeeper training courses, and gives talks about bees, being a beekeeper and, of course, honey to groups, businesses and schools.