Stinging encounter with bees recalled

The former was a neighbour who fled into the Turnbull home one day after being scared by a swarm.

“I wondered what could have frightened such a usually tough person,” recalled Mr Turnbull, currently an anchor of BBC Breakfast.

“The swarm settled on a weeping pear tree. A man from the local beekeeping association came and, without even wearing a veil, gently cut the branch and put the swarm in a box. I thought it would be wonderful to do that.”

But the audience at yesterday’s Yorkshire Post Literary Lunch heard it was a few years before he did anything about it. Instead, the family kept chickens – and it was while at the vet’s with a sick Tabasco that Mr Turnbull’s daughter spotted a sign for bee-keeping lessons.

“The number one lesson is, no matter how good you are, you will get stung,” he said. “Lesson two is to make sure there’s only you in the protective suit when you put it on – I didn’t.”

As well as anecdotes, Mr Turnbull’s book, The Bad Beekeepers’ Club, looks at the very real threat to Britain’s bee population – and what can be done about the dwindling numbers.

Bees also featured in the talk from another of the event’s speakers, award-winning garden designer and former BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Tony Buckland.

“Some people won’t grow anything in their garden they can’t eat,” he said. “I’d argue that’s like saying you won’t buy any furniture for your lounge unless you can sit on it.

“Flowers are amazing – beautiful, sensory and vital for wildlife. Several species of bee have become extinct and it’s up to us gardeners to grow flowers for them.”

The third speaker was Sunday Telegraph journalist Nigel Farndale.

His latest book, The Blasphemer, is set in both the present day and Second World War and examines people’s behaviours when pushed to extremes.