Ness Gardens to host Save Our Bees family fun day

Mar 6 2009 by Mark Dowling, Chester Chronicle

NESS Botanic Gardens is to play host to an event highlighting the plight of the UK’s dwindling bee population.

Family fun activities will take place at the Neston attraction tomorrow (Saturday) as part of the Save Our Bees campaign.

Natalie Cole, regional officer for the British Science Association in Manchester, said: “We have a national campaign each year, and this year we’ve focused on Save Our Bees with a family fun day.

“The aim of Save Our Bees is to raise public awareness of the plight bees are facing.”

Billions of the UK’s bees are dying due to mystery diseases, with a third of honey bee colonies lost in the UK during last winter alone.

Natalie said: “We’re working with Pif-Paf, a natural history theatre company, which will be around on the day with bee props, featuring the amazing adaptations bees have.

“For example, there will be a waggle dance workshop, to show how honey bees communicate with each other.”

Ness Gardens already has a bee- friendly garden, and Natalie added there were plans to make the site more hospitable for them.

She said: “We are hoping to install hives there, working with Wirral Beekeepers.

“The curator of bees and wasps at the World Museum in Liverpool will also give a tour around the gardens, now the first bees of the year are appearing.

“They will show how to identify the different types of bee, such as the bumblebee and the solitary bee.”

There will also be honey tasting, face-painting and short animated films on an animal theme shown during the day.

Admission to the gardens is £5.75 for adults, £2.75 for children aged five-16 and free for under-fives. Admission to the visitor centre is free.

For further information, log on to www.saveourbees. org.uk.