A beekeeper found his grandfather’s long-lost beehive abandoned and thriving in a quarry and turned it into a colony of millions.
Ross Main, 36, grew up with his granddad William Main, a beekeeper and gamekeeper, who regularly took him along to check up on his bees. When William passed away from cancer in 2007 at the age of 77, Ross assumed the hives had been sold. However, after the birth of his own son in 2015, Ross was inspired to try and find his granddad’s hives.
He traveled from his home in Fife, Scotland, to the East Lothian quarry where his granddad had kept them. Ross was stunned to discover an original hive still inhabited by an active colony that had taken care of itself for years.
The hive was hundreds of meters down an old track overgrown with gorse.
Inspired, Ross embarked on a self-taught journey into beekeeping, starting with bees from his grandfather’s original hive. Equipped with a beekeeping suit and a new hive, he carefully transferred the colony to their new home.
He then grew them into a population of five million bees split into around 100 colonies—all descended from Grandpa William’s bees.
“When I was young, my grandfather kept bees—I was about 8 to 10 years old, and it was magical,” Ross said.
“Being around the bees could be quite scary because there were big swarms, and I was quite young, but it really captured my imagination.
“After he passed away, I had no idea what happened to the hive. Seven years on, out of nostalgia, I went to the quarry—and there was still a hive there.
“In that moment, I knew I wanted to look after the hive and rehome the bees, and I started learning from there.
“I had absolutely no beekeeping experience before this. I’d been around bees and my grandpa had shown me how to deal with bees and handle them. He would also open up the hives and show me the honey—but there weren’t any processes explained because I was too young to understand them.
“After he died, I’d lost all that knowledge, and I walked into it as a complete novice. It was during the wintertime, so I had to wait until spring to see if they were still active.
“The hive itself was quite rotted—the wood was really old and falling apart. I had to do research on how to transfer a hive into a new colony.
‘'The internet was a godsend. I spent weeks watching YouTube videos and figuring out how to do everything.
“I started with one hive, and they naturally multiply every year. Over the years, they’ve gradually built up, and we’ve split them into new hives.”
As he learned the trade, Ross began expanding his colonies, gifting the honey to friends and family and eagerly sharing his experience with anyone interested.
In 2021, he took the next step and started his business, Main’s Apiaries.
In addition to selling honey, Ross offers hands-on beekeeping experiences for those interested in learning the craft. He also sells bee colonies to businesses interested in hosting hives on their land, maintaining the hives himself weekly to ensure the colonies thrive.
“When we first started out, I wanted to produce local honey, and that’s still our main objective, but for that to be a financially viable business, we had to diversify,” he said.
“We started offering beekeeping experiences for people. I talk everybody through how the hives work, and do a demonstration on how to handle the bees comfortably, and then let them take control.
“A lot of people interested in beekeeping come along—they can see if they can handle the bees before making an investment and purchasing their own bits of kit.
“We also offer corporate companies the opportunity to have hives on their land. They own the hives and the bees, and we do the maintenance throughout the year.
“They support the local biodiversity within the area, and it promotes a healthy ecosystem.
“I do the beekeeping demonstrations, so I’m very keen to get staff out on their lunch breaks and get them involved with the hives as well.
“The idea of showing other people ... came from the first time my granddad took me to see the bees. He opened the hives, and it was quite a magical thing to be around all these swarms of bees. It was an experience I never forgot, and I wanted to offer it to other people.
“A lot of people are scared at first, but then they’re able to see that there’s nothing scary about the bees—you can handle them perfectly calmly.”
Nine years after rescuing his grandfather’s hive, Ross says he has no regrets about teaching himself the trade and believes his grandfather would have been proud of his achievement.
“Starting out, I had absolutely no experience—but now, nine years later, I have quite a lot,” Ross said.
“I’ve learned everything by myself, and it’s worked out quite well. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I’m quite open to people that want to get started that they will make mistakes as they go along, but it’s the only way you learn.
“It feels really good, and I’m extremely proud to be carrying my granddad’s legacy on. I’m just sad that he can’t see all of this.
“He was taken too soon, which is hard. Two months before he died, he was still out and about—he was an incredible guy.
“I’m incredibly pleased with what we’ve accomplished from just this one hive.”
