Bee keeper Erland Omand is hoping to taste the sweet smell of success after setting up Orkney's first honey company.

Erland, 35, from Stromness, plans to sell his traditional clover honey for premium prices through some of the UK's most prestigious food outlets.

But building his business will be a slow process - it will take at least three years until he has sufficient hives to produce honey on a commercial scale.

So Erland turned to Orkney Enterprise for help and will receive a weekly "wage" through his first year as a professional bee keeper - always the most difficult period for any new venture - under the HIE Starts scheme.

The programme is designed to be as flexible as possible and allows budding entrepreneurs like Erland to work part time if they wish while they get their fledgling businesses off the ground.

"Without the support I'm getting it would have taken me years longer to get to the point where the company will be a going concern," said Erland, who is also supporting himself with a part-time job as a church officer.

"The weekly wage from Orkney Enterprise will be invaluable, because without it I'd have needed a full-time job - and that would have made it very difficult to devote the time I need to build up the business."

The islands' local enterprise company, part of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network, is also supporting the venture with a funding package worth £11,900 which will help with the cost of buying bees and equipment.

The Orkney Honey Company will eventually have two quality products to offer customers - honey and pedigree queen bees.

Erland, who has been fascinated by the skills of bee keeping since he was nine, recently paid for his own studies at a college in New Zealand where he gained qualifications in apiculture and the rearing of queen bees.

Orkney is one of the few places in Britain to be free of the deadly varroa mites that have devastated honey production in many parts of the world.

By using the knowledge and specialised skills he mastered in New Zealand, Erland aims to produce disease-free queen bees for sale to amateur and commercial honey producers throughout Europe.

In three years time, he aims to have 120 hives producing honey he will market as a premium Orkney product and a further 60 hives rearing pedigree queens.
"It won't be anything like the honey you find in jars on supermarket shelves," Erland added. "By minimising the amount of handling and heat it receives - and using a cold filtering process - it'll have a lot more flavour and a wonderful bouquet."

Harvey Stevenson, Orkney Enterprise's development manager, said the flexibility of the HIE Starts programme would allow the Kirkwall-based agency to help kick start a number of new business ideas across the islands.

"Unlike earlier schemes - where applicants had to be unemployed for a minimum of six weeks before we could help them - people like Erland can carry on working part time while they get their new enterprises off the ground," he said.

"A lot of successful companies started off as part time businesses, and this is a way we can assist that process."

Under the scheme, applicants can be provided with a lump sum of up to £500 and an allowance of up to £3,000 during their first 12 months in business. Further financial aid from other Orkney Enterprise support schemes may also be available.

The HIE Starts scheme has also helped talented Stronsay artist, Jennifer Flett produce a range of greetings cards which are about to go on sale in Orkney.

"It's been a dream of mine to become a professional artist for the past 10 years," said Mrs Flett. "But there are risks involved in setting up any business - so the support I'm getting is very helpful and will serve as a safety net as I develop markets for the cards."

Self taught, she works with coloured pencils, oil pastels and water colours and finds inspiration in the Stronsay landscape and in her own imagination.

Stronsay Artworks, Mrs Flett's new business, will also bring out a range of postcards later this summer for sale on the island itself.

"In my early life it was my mother who encouraged me towards the goal of being an artist in my own right," she added. "Now, as an adult, my husband has saved many of what turned out to be good paintings from going into the bin. There's also been marvellous support from the Stronsay community as a whole - it's all helped me fulfil my dream of becoming a professional artist."