A Summerseat community beekeeper has thanked a donor after new equipment helped her see their biggest harvest yet. 

Emma Speed, fell in love with the 'peaceful hobby' around four years ago whilst on maternity leave and then set up Bee Involved in the Community, Summerseat.

Despite the group's success, Emma said they had struggled to harvest a lot of honey in the past due to the equipment they had been using. 

After receiving a donated honey spinner from Rob Smith, the founder of The Literacy Shed, she said over three litres have now been harvested.

Bury Times: Bee Involved in the Community beekeepers Bee Involved in the Community beekeepers (Image: Public)

Thanking Rob, she added that the new spinner has also helped other regional beekeepers who came down to try it.

She said: “Without the honey spinner we really struggled to get honey out of the hive, so it was an important piece of kit.  

“Previously we had to beg and borrow or use a tiny little harvester by hand which didn’t get much out of the frames and left out kitchen sticky for weeks.” 

The new equipment has harvested enough honey to sell and helps to fund their community projects. 

Bury Times: The new spinner The new spinner (Image: Public)

She said: “Beekeeping can be quite solitary in nature so as part of our initiatives, we encourage other beekeepers to come over and use our equipment or advice.  

“It's been good to get lots of different beekeepers together and become more sociable and supportive.

"They brought their frames and got to spin and in turn, they help us with our workshops and open days.”  

Emma says it is amazing how well the group has done from when she first pitched the idea to Bury Council.

The group now has 10 beekeepers, all who help continue to push the project forward.

Emma now works on the education side of the project in her spare time after founding the group. 

She said: “My background was in education so I focus on being able to get into schools and meet young people and teach them. 

Bury Times: Bee Involved in the Community Bee Involved in the Community (Image: Public)“We have five hives and we run free open hive events once a month in summer and go to schools with a mobile hive to do workshops 

“We have children and adults who are terrified of bees and by the end of the sessions, they are holding them in their hands. 

“As well as the council funding we get, the donations and selling of the honey helps up put more into our projects such as buying children beekeeper suits.”

The new spinner was described by Emma as like a washing machine.  

The frames from inside the hive are placed in the machine and span around until the honey is harvested and collected through a tap at the bottom of the spinner.