Fascinating buzz
- 11 November 2022
- 2 minutes
Beekeeping is a pastime stereotypically associated with retirees. For Spencer Drake (History MPhil 2022), the hobby began as a teenager while working in a quiet restaurant in rural New England.
Spencer was encouraged to read during downtime in shifts at a restaurant near his home, outside of Boston. He opted to read manuals about bees, with his fascination growing quickly.
“I was just really interested in bees. They’re such fascinating creatures,” he says.
“The more you read about them the more complex you realise they are. They have complex social relationships, different jobs, different cycles across their lifetime. I love them.”
For some the honey would be the attraction. But not for Spencer.
He adds: “It’s more the bees themselves. I love working with them, being around them, experiencing what they have to offer and understanding how they operate and how the hive functions. You could read about it for years and never be finished.”
A trip to Edinburgh to visit his sister at university coincided with a chance meeting which convinced his parents that Spencer could keep a hive of bees.
A beekeeper was demonstrating in the lobby of the hotel the family stayed in and Spencer engaged him in an engrossing conversation.
Two years keeping bees in Massachusetts followed before Spencer went to King’s College London for his undergraduate degree.
He took on a part-time job in the Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall and was wearing his bee lapel badge, capturing the curiosity of the proprietor, Harry Iggulden, pictured above.
That led to a mutually beneficial relationship where Spencer kept bees on a rooftop and taught Harry about beekeeping. Harry is now keeping four hives on his small central London rooftop, using and selling the honey in the café downstairs.
Spencer is a member of the British Beekeepers Association and is a member of the only University of Cambridge society for apiculture, St John’s Beekeeping Society.
In October he began a MPhil in cultural history in New England, under the supervision of Caius Fellow Professor Peter Mandler.
Now he is in Cambridge he is seeking a similar relationship where he can teach beekeeping and manage hives.
“I see the best relationship as teaching and keeping – we all benefit,” he adds.
