Our Director, Laurie has been busy over recent months preparing an apiary in his garden for a new bee colony. Having completed the North Cheshire Bee Keeper’s theory course over winter, he’s now gaining practical experience and worked on a local colony yesterday assisting with the weekly checks. ‘The bees’ social interactions and lifecycle are fascinating’ explained Laurie ‘…and they provide such an interesting insight to the natural world’.
Laurie hopes to have a healthy colony established in the coming weeks with the expectation that these will see out the winter and thrive in 2019. There is a movement to re-establish the native Black Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera, once thought to be extinct) in the Delamere Forest area from local wild bees recently discovered living in the trees. The move is backed by established local bee keepers, the Forestry Commission and Cheshire Wildlife Trust. As Laurie and his family are lucky enough to live in the forest he’s keen to lend his support. We’ll keep you posted on how the bees are settling in!