Bees glorious bees
Did you know that bees are responsible for pollinating about a third of everything that we eat? Put simply without the bees we would be in danger of losing; broccoli, asparagus, cucumbers, blueberries, watermelon, apples, cranberries and the list goes on. Sounds rather depressing does it not? I think we would all agree then how important it is for us to nurture our bees and spread bee awareness.
I had the pleasure of visiting Roof Top Bees Community Club and their Aviary at Cherry Tree library in Blackburn in my first week of working at the Food Alliance. What a great first week it was! I got to be a bee keeper. Graham helped me into my safety suit and off I went with him and Steve to open up the hives and take a look around. I even got to hold a frame. Surprisingly it was a very calm and relaxing experience.
About the group
Roof Top Bees are a group of horticulturalists and bee keepers who meet regularly to discuss bee keeping and biodiversity. Steve and Graham are the head bee keepers who have developed the voluntary led group to where they are today. They are actively involved in local tree, wild flower and hedgerow planting along with community education around the importance of bees.
Their main aim is to bring the community together by providing free basic bee keeping training and the promotion of pollinators and biodiversity. Their members meeting is the first Wednesday of each month.
Steve not only provides the hands on bee training to members he also raises awareness at a corporate and public level. Such as lobbying South Ribble council where he lives to delay the dandelion cutting on the public highways. Well done Steve! Also educating us on campaigns such as one third of internationally traded honey is fake! See http://www.honeyap.org/for more information on this.
How to get involved
They welcome anyone who wants to help and support the vital work that’s being done and their plans for expansion. As a member you can learn the basics of bee keeping, before taking on the commitment of your own hive. There is no charge for this either! However they want to reiterate that as a member you don’t need to want to take on the commitment of your own bees. They welcome anyone with an interest and understanding of how important this work is who can spare a few hours a month helping in whatever capacity they can.
Check out their website for more information about becoming a member http://www.rooftopbees.org.uk/
Come along to meet the bees
Their next non members open evening is called “Meet the Bees” on the 3 May at 530pm and the group are opening their doors to anyone who would like to learn more about their objectives and find out how they can get involved in this vital work.
Please be aware numbers are limited for this open evening so please call Adele Karwat from the Cherry Tree Library and book your place on 01254 587954.
Hopefully see you there!
Dawn
For more information contact details below
https://www.facebook.com/BeesRooftop/
http://www.rooftopbees.org.uk/