Buzz off on an urban beekeeping course

 

urban beekeeping

Fancy looking to make honey? London’s St Ermin’s Hotel is offering urban beekeeping courses in April.

The courses, held during the Chelsea Fringe will be hosted by Camilla Goddard of Capital Bee at the hotel which is home to a thriving colony of 300,000 Buckfast honey bees.

The 2.5-hour workshops outline the complexities of bee society and behaviour; 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 new ‘Bee & B’ is formed of stylish purple hexagonal suites, each sporting a different theme to provide a home for all visiting bee species. Peaceful bamboo nesting areas and condominiums (in modern block design or traditional log style) are for solitary bees such as the leaf-cutter bee, whilst the bijou boxes are for social breeds such as the tree bumblebee. The bee hotel also provides a variety of special areas for other helpful insects: The discerning lacewing will be enchanted by the rolled cardboard swirls and all types of ladybirds, earwigs, woodlice and spiders will find peaceful resting places amongst the crevice stacks.

The courses cost £25 per person and take place on April 6 and May 2, 16 and 23. Overnight stays are from £259 per night for a double, room only.
See sterminshotel.co.uk