REGENERATIVE BEEKEEPING
Regenerative Beekeeping is a more bee-centric approach to keeping and interacting with Honeybees using beekeeping methods that are closer to their natural conditions.
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More about Paul Sheppard
If you told me 5 years ago that I would, one day be living in France I would have just laughed, but here I am. I am originally from the island of Trinidad and Tobago where I started beekeeping in 1984. My wife, who is French national, and I moved here in 2018 and I have fallen in love with the country. It is wonderful (sometimes) for beekeeping with an abundance of water, and flowering trees and plants.
We bought an old farm/barn on ¾ acre (3000 sq.meters) plot on the banks of the river Gartempe in a small village called Saulgé and we have been building a vegetable and pollinator friendly garden. There is a small beekeeping community and the Mayor is a beekeeper. There is a local ban on pesticide use so the area is relatively free of heavy use pesticides and most of the land is pasture so there is an abundance of wild flowers. Most of the hedgerows have been kept so that’s an added bonus.
I was a bit hesitant at first to start natural beekeeping as I read an article on French bees that said that for the most part the bees here could not survive without treatments. This could not be further from the truth although I lost a lot of bees when I first started but have managed to now have fairly resistant stock.
I have put together a PP Video presentation that will give you an idea of my experience and work with honeybees over the years.
Click the read more button to see this presentation
Regenerative Beekeeping
Why Regenerative Beekeeping and what is it? Are you already a Beekeeper and want to change to a more Natural and Regenerative management system or are you just starting out and want to follow a more holistic approach.
We can all make a diffrence
Student Testimonials
There are several students involved in the MentorProgram
Scott Kerr-
St Lucia
I was extremely lucky to meet Paul Sheppard in St. Lucia in 2014 at a lecture he gave on natural beekeeping, a subject that had fascinated me for years, but unfortunately had no practical training in. Paul very generously took me on as a research assistant for a funded project experiment where ten Langstroth hives were raised using traditional commercial methods next to ten hives using only natural methods, as per Paul's teachings. After a year, it was clear that the natural hives were far stronger and healthier and not suffering from any of the usual issues, such as varroa mites or fungal chalkbrood disease, despite being situated on the edge of a rainforest.
Rachael Spencer Jones
-France
“Paul Sheppard was the inspiration behind us getting bees, his passion for the bee population called me to take action. As a Founder member of Regenerative Beekeeping group his support and advice is fantastic, always on hand for support and guidance so that we are able to help the bees too”.
Michel Chesseboeuf-France
"Néophyte en apiculture, Paul m’apprend régulièrement à comprendre les abeilles et à les protéger les mieux possible dans leur environnement. Je suis heureux de l avoir comme professeur."
"A neophyte in beekeeping, Paul regularly teaches me to understand bees and to protect them as best as possible in their environment. I am happy to have him as a teacher."