Over the past few weeks I have had a very special visitor. He goes by the name of Flat Stanley. As suggested by his name, he’s a slightly unusual visitor, in that he’s not just slim but 2D.
See what I mean?
This might all seem somewhat eccentric so far, but there is a reason for this, honest. See his beautifully drawn cowboy boots? Flat Stanley is actually visiting from Texas! He’s been sent for a stay by beekeeper Karl Arcuri, whose niece Riya created him as part of the Flat Stanley literacy project. Flat Stanley is now doing a tour of the world, and I am lucky enough to be the first beekeeper to have him.
Stanley fell lightly through the door with a letter which said:
Dear English Beekeepers,
Thank you for hosting me in your lovely country. While I can’t wait to visit some English beehives, I particularly look forward to the tea and cake. Please note I prefer an Assam blend, but any strong black tea will do. Clotted cream is also a must since it is impossible to find in the United States. I hope the bees are in good health and good spirits.
Many thanks
Flat Stanley
After a spot of tea, to celebrate Stanley’s arrival I took him to meet my bees…
And to frolic in buttercups…
And to meet other beekeepers.
Karl asked if I could share some interesting facts about beekeeping in my country. Well, I would sum up beekeeping here as “tricky”. Since varroa arrived, gone are the days where a beekeeper could check on their hive once or twice a year and take away a few supers of honey each summer. A new pest is on the horizon too – the bee-eating Asian hornet, Vespa Velutina, has reached northern France after its accidental French arrival in boxes of pottery from China in 2004. A strong hornet queen could fly across the channel, or more likely be unwittingly transported here by humans. We must watch out for it.
For now, varroa combined with the constantly up-and-down weather are probably the biggest challenges here. Sometimes, as today, we get a beautiful day or a run of a few beautiful days of sunshine. But there is the constant knowledge that the rain and cold dull days may return at any moment, even in the middle of summer. Ah well, no-one lives here for the weather!
I believe Flat Stanley is off to sample the delights of the Isle of Wight next. To find out more about Flat Stanley and how he can visit you too, see Karl’s blog:
EDIT: Flat Stanley has since gone for a taste of French sophistication: Flat Stanley notches up more air miles.
Adventuresinbeeland's Blog 
I doubt the Texas origin . . . no six-shooters . . .
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Ah, well six-shooters are no use against bees!
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Well, I’ve put my name on the list just in case Flat Stanley wants to come visit Australia (is there anyone anywhere that doesn’t want to visit Australia?). Thanks for this sweet post.
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Fantastic, wish I could pop over to see you as easily as Flat Stanley!
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Flat Stanley was so smart to pick the best UK beekeeper to visit. But what I don’t understand is how did he know you would have the best tea and cake?
He is really smart for a two dimensional guy from Texas!
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He he! He may only have a flat paper brain, but he focuses it 100% on the important things in life.
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What a lovely idea!
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Yes, it’s brilliant where blogs can take you.
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Ha ha, Flat Stanley is perfect addition to the world of blogging. The bees in one photo seem interested in him.
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Perhaps they were wondering if he was an unusual type of new flower. Or an unusual type of beekeeper.
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Thanks so much for hosting Flat Stanley. My niece just happened to be visiting Texas this weekend and was very excited to read this post!
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Great stuff! She’s a talented young lady.
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Who said Americans don’t understand our humour? Some of them at least are clearly as barking as we Brits! Stanley looks very cute, if rather 50s or 60s camp, and not at all dressed to cope with our weather. He clearly has taste and manners though, so should be OK. The news about yet another potential winged invader after our bees is disturbing though, do you have any pictures of them?
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Yep, good to know it’s not just us Brits who are loopy! The National Bee Unit has a page on spotting the hornet at https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=208. Their nests are huge and they kill poor little honey bees just by biting their heads off. Asian honeybees have evolved coping strategies such as killing the scout hornets by drawing them into their hive and then balling them, but European honeybees haven’t worked out how to do that yet.
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Thanks for the link. You reminded me that I watched a lovely TV programme about a Japanese guy, I think he may have been a monk, that kept bees and it did feature attempted raids on the hives by hornets. His bees did manage to fight them off, but I think it was said that if the hornets decide to attack in numbers the bees lose.
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National Geographic did a show on them that I saw some time ago. It is kind of scary if these things are now in Europe. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1025_021025_GiantHornets.html
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Thanks for the link. They’re most definitely in Europe, and getting closer to England all the time! Eek.
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How fun — great photos! Lucky guy, to travel the world in an envelope!
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Yep, touring the world, meeting bees, drinking tea and eating clotted cream!
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Do the airlines charge Stanley full price for a seat?
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Only if they find him. Mostly he can slip past ’em.
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Reblogged this on Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas and commented:
Flat Stanley is in London! Read all about it.
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Thanks 🙂
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Fantastic, love it!
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It’s a lot of fun getting to chat with beekeepers and paper figurines from around the world.
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One of my favourite books from childhood! Can Flat Stanley please come visit the North London Beekeepers! Tea and cake is waiting!
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Ah great! Thanks for reblogging the post. Best thing to do to get on the list is leave Karl a comment on his ‘Flat Stanley wants to visit you’ post that I linked to at the end of my blog.
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Reblogged this on hellochanchan and commented:
Flat Stanley is a beekeeper!
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Pingback: Flat Stanley notches up more air miles | Stick To Plan Bee
Stanley is looking great! Beekeeping looks like such an interesting job, thanks for sharing your experience!
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Thanks! He really was drawn well. Not my job though, just a hobby 🙂
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Flat Stanley is so cute. Aside from the hives, I wonder where does he like to go? I love this article. so cute and informative!
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Thanks Jill. Judging by his boots, I think Flat Stanley likes his country line dancing as well as beekeeping.
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That is so awesome to know about Fat Stanley. Thank you Emily 🙂
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