Mary Case has been keeping bees since 1984 and is one of several generations of beekeepers in her family. Originally beekeeping was going to be a hobby, however, after attending a beekeeping course at Sparsholt College she was hooked and over the years her hobby grew into a business.
She is descended from eleven generations of farmers on the Isle of Wight and believes beekeeping requires the same principles as any other type of farming. For the bees to thrive they need somewhere clean and dry to live, access to water and food, and to be disease free. If she can provide the right conditions, they will make the best of the weather conditions and hopefully produce an excess of honey.
Mary was one of the founding members of the Isle of Wight farmers’ markets and she had a stall at the Newport farmers’ market for 23 years. She found meeting people from far and wide and seeing familiar faces was a joy, dealing with the wind and rain was not so much fun! In September 2022 the farmers’ markets closed, partly in response to the introduction of farm shops, where a wide range of local produce can be found under one roof.