Ashby beekeeper David McDowell has started up a new business dealing in his distance learning courses.

David - otherwise known as the Bee Farmer - says his new venture was born out of being frustrated by a year of lockdown.

The Bee Farmer continues as before, fettling bees, making honey and being an advocate for bees but Bee Plus is a way to take training to a wider audience in a fresher way.

David explained: "I suffered in lockdown because I could not run my foundation course in beekeeping or School for Bees programme.

"In response to the problem, I learned some new skills during the summer.

"I created a company for my distance learning courses. The company is call bee-plus.org: 'The education pathway for budding beekeepers and bee farmers' as the tag line goes.

"Launched two weeks ago, we already have several people on the course.

"The course is delivered an on an industry standard learning platform called Moodle.

"You can access the course on PC, tablet or learn on the go on mobile via the Moodle app."