About James

The Beginning

A little bit about me on how i got where i am

How did i get started?

My starting point was in 1992 in Underberg, KZN, when I got my first hive at 16 years old. When I was 19, I had an unfortunate incident, my bees went wild and killed all my younger brother’s chickens. It only became apparent to me years later what happened and how it could have been avoided. In 1999, I moved to Johannesburg and started my apprenticeship with SAA Technical. Unfortunately, my hives in Underberg had subsequently been burnt in a fire.

Crucial points in my journey

In 2015, I reignited my passion for beekeeping by starting up again, leaving a capture box in the driveway, and at heart, being a teacher, so when I was performing removals, my clients would often end up with a spare veil to help, and some of them have even taken up beekeeping themselves, with some now having more hives than I do, but who’s counting, and on more than one occasion, the question was asked, “I have the bees, but now what?” which spurred me to develop the “Introduction to Urban Beekeeping” course, involving a full morning of learning about bees and then exploring a hive; only two people attended my first course, neither of whom kept bees, and both got stung that day, and now the courses are held monthly.