June definitely was a bee month! Hopefully there was lots of bees and honeybees flying and foraging near you. As June started it was back to school for us, we had the pleasure of talking to primary school children, teachers and assistants at several schools. First up was Lomond Primary School in Helensburgh, where Primary 1 and 2 pupils were learning all about bees and beekeeping as part of their Clarendon Ranger activities. From there it was up to Aberdeen where pupils from Hillside Primary got the pleasure of seeing her majesty live…the Queen Bee that is! Later in the month, just as schools were finishing we spent a lovely morning talking to Primary 3 pupils of Ladeside Primary in Larbert as part of their mini beast project, they knew so much about insects it was un-bee-lievable!
Ladeside Primary and their Mini Beast Project!
Whilst in Aberdeen we joined up with Aberdeen Beekeepers’ Association to spend the day at Wood Group headquarters, as part of their Eco Town initiative. Many employees were delighted to watch the live bees and see her majesty laying a few eggs and a few new honeybees emerging.
As part of our adult education programme, we were thrilled to be invited along to Community Networks in Paisley, not only to talk about bees and their importance as pollinators and food suppliers, but also to have a sneak preview at the wonderful gardens and growing projects the team have created there. Well done to all involved!
Last but by no means least, was our week spent at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. For several years now we have been asked by the Royal Highland Society to host the Honey Tent at the show. Our tent is one of the busiest at the show, attracting around 40,000 visitors over the 4 days. As a charity, we rely on our fantastic band of volunteers to set up and man the tent, and this year we had over 200 volunteers to take part, thank you so so much!! The Honey Tent is also one of the major competition tents at the show, and this year we had over 400 entries for the various competition classes. The competitions cover everything from honey, to beeswax candles, photographs and baking so loads to see and enjoy! Our visitors had so much to see and do, with a lot of them spending more than half an hour in the tent! They left with bee friendship bracelets, bee friendly seed packets and information on how to look after bees and honeybees in their area.
