Daniel Basterfield

Daniel grew up with beekeeping around him, earning pocket money by clipping and marking queens. Having spent 15 years working in large companies, he returned to the family beekeeping business in Devon, UK, in 2005, and with his father expanded the business and built a brand new Honey Farm as the centre of their honey production, queen raising, and teaching activities. Daniel holds the National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB), is a British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Master Beekeeper, and is an examiner for both the BBKA and NDB examinations. He is a regular speaker around the UK on practical beekeeping topics. Daniel wrote some of the BBKA's 'Course in a Case' training courses, has contributed to the BBKA's 'Liquid Gold' and 'Swarming' videos, and co-authored the BBKA's 'Healthy Hive Guide' book. He has most recently published 'Using Apideas', a manual for queen mating nucs. He is a member of the Bee Farmers Association of the UK, and has been a Trustee and Chairman of the International Bee Research Association (IBRA), and Chairman of the NDB Examination Board. Daniel and his father Ken are the only father and son team to ever have been awarded the NDB, the highest UK beekeeping qualification. They run around 120 colonies commercially together, based at Blackbury Honey Farm in Devon, UK. They set up 'Advanced Beekeeping Courses' in 2020 to offer practical and hands-on courses aimed at beekeepers with 3-5 years of experience, using the purpose built facilities at Blackbury Honey Farm. See www.advancedbeekeeping.org.uk for more details.