Urban beekeeping in London

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Want to make your own honey? London’s St Ermin’s hotel is hosting a series of urban beekeeping workshops.

The workshops, led by Camilla Goddard of Capital Bee will take place during the Chelsea Fringe and will be held on Saturdays April 16 and 30 and May 7 and 21, with more to follow in September during the hotel’s annual ‘honey month’.

Two options are available to book – a 2.5 hour workshop plus speciality honey cocktail in the Caxton Bar at £30pp or the course with afternoon tea in the hotel’s Tea Lounge at £45pp.

Goddard has nurtured the hotel’s 300,000-strong colony of buckfast honey bees for the last few years. She said: “The St Ermin’s six active hives are currently doing well, producing on average 25lb of honey each year, helped by the fantastic range of flora in the surrounding royal gardens and parks.

“It’s been a very strange, warm winter and we’re waiting to see how this affects colony come spring – but early signs seem positive.”

The 2.5-hour workshops outline the complexities of bee society and beehaviour; highlight the close relationship between bees and flowers and give guidance on what to plant, when and where and how best to site hives in gardens or allotments. Participants also visit London’s first ‘Bee & B’ hotel on the hotel’s third floor wildflower terrace to get real hands-on experience handling bees, managing their hives and collecting raw honey.

The Urban Beekeeping Workshops, led by expert beekeeper, Camilla Goddard, run from 12 noon to 2.30pm.

Email [email protected] to book