The Botanic Garden is the place to bee

A celebration of bees and pollination, which coincides with the International Year of Biodiversity, will take place at the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden at The Holmes, Stoke Bishop, Bristol from Friday 28 to Monday 30 August. 

Exhibits will include research by the University’s School of Biological Sciences on bees and pollinations, local cider apple producers and the Gloucestershire Orchard Group. Local orchid enthusiasts will highlight the relationship between pollinators and flowers in a display of orchids.

The Avon Beekeepers Association (ABKA) will demonstrate beekeeping techniques and a live hive will give visitors an insight into what goes on in a hive. Advice will be available together with bee products such as honey from local producers.

The Bristol Branch of ABKA will also hold its Open Honey Festival over the three days. Entrants to the competition will be aiming to win the ‘Bristol Silver Queen’ trophy. This was first awarded in 1929 to Miss A B Flowers, a beekeeper from Salisbury, and beekeepers from as far as Scotland and Cornwall have won the trophy in the past.

Nick Wray, Curator at the Botanic Garden, said: “The weekend will include lots of interactive events and displays. Orchids will feature prominently because their flowers are the most highly adapted to specific pollinators and there will be some fascinating orchid examples.

“The festival is a great opportunity for members of the public to see what bees and pollinators do for us.”

The event has been funded thanks to a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) public engagement award given to Professor Jane Memmott in the University’s School of Biological Sciences.

Professor Memmott, an expert in ecological processes, is leading on a project to explore how urban environments could help to restore insect populations.