When Spencer Field celebrates the tenth anniversary of his beekeeping business Passion Fields next month it will be with the sense of having fought a hard battle.

In the years since he launched, he and his bees have endured droughts, wet spells, hurricanes and the ever voracious varroa destructor mite, which has savaged bee populations worldwide.

“Over the last decade, we have grown from a couple of hives, all the way to more than 250, at one point,” Mr Field said. “This year we are hovering around 150 but we are going to be doing another 100 splits, to get me back up to 250.”

A split in beekeeping is the process of dividing one strong beehive into two or more separate colonies to prevent swarming, increase hive numbers or manage the colony’s health.

The last couple of years have been challenging.

Mr Field has had to turn to creative ways to fight the mite, such as tricking the bees into accepting impostors in the tower as their queens. This creates new colonies.

To do this he transfers day-old female larva from worker cells into the royal chamber, signalling nurse bees to raise that larva as a queen.

Because of the various setbacks, he has diversified in recent years, adding a flock of goats to his repertoire.

“I have 15 goats now, but have had up to 25,” he said.

On Thursday afternoon he had one of his baby goats, Maggie, out with him as he sold honey on Trimingham Hill in Paget. Apparently nothing moves honey better than a little white goat.

He had to reduce the size of his flock last year when his father fell ill but is now building them back up again.

For a fee, the goats will mow your lawn by eating down the grass and loose leaves and vegetation.

“We have had them in about three locations and are looking at a fourth,” he said.

His plan is to develop a product line of goat milk soaps.

“Goat milk is full of natural fats, minerals and vitamins, so it is not only great to drink or turn into cheese, it also nourishes your skin and leaves it feeling really soft,” Mr Field said.

Goats have proven to be more challenging than bees.

“They are ornery,” he said. “You can't goat-proof a yard; you just have to monitor them.”

However, he said goats were great ruminants.

“I eat a banana and the goat eats the banana leaves,” he said. “They eat grass, leaves, trees, shrubs and low-fibre or low-nutrient debris to make high-quality meat and milk.”

Mr Field has not been impacted by import tariff changes in the United States as much as many other Bermudian businesses but is being hit by the rising cost of gas and oil.

He buys glass jars for his honey in the United States.

“They are fairly bulky and oversized when I buy pallets of them,” he said. “The cost of general trucking in the US has gone up a lot. Hopefully, the US dollar holds strong and we are able to pull through.”

In addition to goats, Mr Field is also looking at growing mushrooms.

• For more information, e-mail fieldshivesandhoney@gmail.com, call 704-4411 or see on Instagram @passion.fields