Birds and bees join show canines

Man's best friend will be joined by the birds and the bees at this year's Staffordshire County Show.

Bulldogs and beagles are to make their debut at the annual dog show which forms part of the overall event each year and, attracts more than 1,000 entries.

Also appearing for the first time are four other breeds, including German Spitz Mittels and Kleins and Belgian and Australian shepherd dogs.

Gordon Talbot, the dog show secretary , said they were introducing new breed classes because of increased interest in them.

"It may seem odd that after all these years we are introducing classes for one of the oldest breeds in the country, but there has been an increase in the number of people keeping British Bulldogs, which is nice to see." Mr Talbot said he was hoping that this year's entry figure would be more than 1,100 dogs.

Runner and call ducks, together with geese and chickens as well as rabbits and Guinea pigs are always a fascinating attraction at the show.

All the classes have been filled and the special poultry and rabbit show marquee will be a big attraction for many showgoers, with fowl on the first day and rabbits and cavies on the second day.

There are several classes for children who spend many hours preparing their pet rabbits and cavies for the judges.

On Wednesday the poultry show, organised by the Lichfield and District Poultry Club includes a special class for eggs and a couple of years ago among the exhibits were a number of eggs from the Prince of Wales's Highgrove farm.

The second day sees the marquee taken over by rabbits and cavies and once again the British Giant rabbits, which can weigh up to 20 pounds, together with Silver Foxes, Black and Tans and Lops will be the centre of attraction.

More and more people are turning to beekeeping as a profitable and rewarding hobby.

Meanwhile visitors will be able to discover just what is needed to establish a thriving hive producing pounds of honey annually, when they visit the Stafford Bee Group stand. Tony Burton, of the Stafford Bee Group, which has been staging the beekeeping exhibition for decades at the show, said: "There had been a recent interest in keeping productive hives and a series of beekeeping courses organised and run by the South Staffordshire and District Bee Keepers Association at Shugborough Hall in May and June have been over subscribed.

"These courses are for beginners and at the Staffordshire County Show we will be able to give showgoers all the information they need to establish their own hive, how to buy a colony of bees, what protective clothing they should get and how to extract the honey at the end of the summer.

"On the other hand they could get a hive and the wax combs and hope that a swarm takes it over.

"This is practical advice and people will be able to see a cutaway display showing the inside of a working hive."