AN ABERYSTWYTH-BORN former firefighter is creating a buzz after joining the world’s first bee farming apprenticeship scheme.

Gruff Tomos, 19, a former part-time firefighter at Machynlleth Fire Station, is one of the newest recruits to the Bee-a-Beefarmer scheme, developed by Rowse Honey and the Bee Farmers Association, which aims to boost the British bee count in order to safeguard the future of the bee farming industry.

Currently in its second year, the scheme is recruiting 30 new apprentices over three years in the hope of bringing some much-needed young blood into the industry — in 2015 the average age of a bee farmer in Britain was 66 years old.

Reflecting on the apprenticeship, Gruff said: “It will give me good qualifications for future jobs when I finish this scheme and hopefully carry on in bee-keeping.”

It is estimated that the country needs to increase its bee farmer count by a minimum of 33 per cent — to a total of 848 farmers — over the next decade or face lower availability of produce and potentially higher food prices.

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops and online on Wednesday