An Aboyne teenager has returned from an international beekeeping competition with his head held high after his Scottish team finished fourth overall.
Tarland Bee Group member Martin Leahy was joined by two other keen apiarists from the central belt, who all took part in the week-long International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB) event in France.
Still buzzing from his recent trip, 14-year-old Martin said he had made a lot of new friends from the 28 different countries who were taking part.
He said: “The IMYB was organised so that you competed within a team of young beekeepers from around the world.
“We overcame language problems and just got on with the tasks of the day, helping each other out where possible.
“I found the honey tasting quite difficult and there were a few honeys I’d rather not have tried as they were pretty horrible.
“The taste from them overpowered the other honey so it was difficult to distinguish the different flavours.”
The team came fourth overall out of the 28 teams entered.
The rest of the Scottish team was made up of Angus Rintoul, 17, from East Kilbride, and Harriet Sweatman, 15 from Edinburgh.
Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany took home the trophies.
Bron Wright, team leader for the Scottish Beekeepers Association, said: “What an amazing result for our team, absolutely fantastic and a huge tribute to their beekeeping knowledge and the respectful, good natured and sensible approach that they had towards the competition.”
