Samuel Ashman attending to bees on his farm in Christiana, Manchester. - George Henry photoGeorge Henry , Gleaner Writer
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
SAMUEL URIAH Ashman, 78, has suffered misfortunes as a bee farmer over the last 64 years, but, like the honey he produces, bee farming is still a sweet career.
Mr. Ashman, who lives in Christiana, Manchester began bee farming at the age of 14 when his father died. He started with the four boxes of bees that his father raised but had 50 boxes by he reached the age of 16.
A sign artist formerly employed to the Public Works Department, Mr. Ashman worked as a painter in Manchester and Clarendon for several years while he raised his bees but in 1955, when he moved to Tweedside in Clarendon, he had to sell them, as he did not have enough money to transport them to his new home.
For him, this was a huge disappointment. But little did he know that there would be another major hurdle to climb.
Mr. Ashman later moved to live in Spaldings where he acquired a small hive producing one hundred boxes of bees and soon after he established farms in the communities of Fine Grass, Williamsfield, Porus and Shooters Hill in Manchester and in Grantham, Clarendon with more than three hundred boxes of bees up to 2001.
VAROTA BUG
But his stock has dwindled to 24 boxes following an attack of the Varota bug. "I lost all my bees and had it not been for my son who is also in the business, I probably would not have the 24 I now have. It was my son who gave me one box and from there I was able to start all over again and I will not stop until I am back to my best," Mr. Ashman told Farmers Weekly.
He is still able to supply honey to several supermarkets and consumers in Manchester and Clarendon but he has failed to meet all the demands for the product.
"There is a lot of work involved in bee farming," he said, "You have to find the capital to acquire material for boxes, make the boxes and extract honey when it is time to do so, plus seek the market... But there is money in it if you can take the 'sting'."
He also said that many persons whom he has trained in bee keeping have been quitting because of inadequate funding and suggested that persons affected by the Varota bug should receive more assistance from Government.
Mr. Ashman is married to Lena and the union has produced seven children: Wesley, Joseph, Isaac, Donald, Delroy, David and Mirth.
