Causing a buzz on live TV

The farm is a hive of activity at the moment. The strawberries are close to ripening, the caravans have been thoroughly cleaned for the imminent new workers and final preparations for the 2021 season are going well.

But the buzz was audible and noticeable on Thursday, March 18, as Meridian TV came to Westlands to capture the release of this year’s pollination bees on camera.

The boss waxes lyrical about bees and locally produced berries on live regional television.

Mike and I were painting a large section of the packhouse floor when Ryan came in to announce the news. He informed us we might be on television and thus messages were immediately sent to our nearest and dearest urging them to watch Meridian Tonight.

We understood the crew would gather footage at all three sites with the highlight being the release of the bees on live TV in Stock House. All very exciting, and soon demands were being made for riders, make up and dressing rooms in anticipation of our appearance.

Except the three of us didn’t see any cameras at all. Ryan, deciding he didn’t want to be on television, moved us to Ford to replace some rainwater collection pipes, carefully timing our departure to coincide with the impending arrival of the crews at Westlands.

Now I’ve been on television before – including an appearance on a Dutch news programme where I started going all Steve McClaren at FC Twente, oh yesh – and I often did videos for the Hereford Times so I’m not fussed about caught on camera. But I thought my fiancée and some of the many friends and family members she notified might be a trifle disappointed, especially as she urged them all to tune in at 6pm for a chance of catching me on regional telly.

But I am pleased to report the 2021 Westlands Great Bumble Bee Release was shown on live TV with Graham doing the honours. Although he looked a little bit like a “rabbit in the headlights” to start with (his dad’s words, not mine), the boss did a grand job in front of a watching audience of thousands, eloquently informing viewers about the importance of bees and buying locally produced berries instead of those from the likes of Morocco and South Africa.

I learned the following day that filming was not a rushed experience as there were 20 “practice” interviews. Aerial footage was gathered – this was very impressive and made the Redhill site look huge – while the satellite dish on top of the Meridian TV van was constantly turning. Steve said the crew, with their clipboards and production buzzwords, were very professional although the same couldn’t be said about their impatience with the bees and their reluctance to leave the box.

This picture and the first were lifted from the Westlands Facebook page.

“The bees we’ve got are bumble bees and they’re the most gentle of all the bees, but that doesn’t mean they won’t sting you if you irritate them,” said Steve the following day.

“The bees just didn’t want to come out of the box. The woman doing the interview said ‘what if we give the box a shake? Will that make them come out?’ but I strongly advised her not to do that, unless she wanted to be surrounded by lots of angry bees.”

The scene in Stock House the following morning. It won't be long until these berries are red, ripe and ready for picking.

I can confirm that the camera-shy bees have now started to explore Stock House as a couple buzzed past my head while I was working in the same glasshouse the following day.

And as for Ryan? Well the media had the last laugh, as a picture of him opening another box of bees appeared on the front cover of the free Hampshire Independent newspaper the following day. Karma, baby.