Guest post by Education Officer – Cilla Platt
Saturday 7th September was a breezy but bright day for the visit to the Teaching Apairy.
Folks who were interested in bees came along to find out just how our wonderful local honey is made.
The bees were the star performers and showed off their skills with due regard to their first-time visitors.
It can be daunting if you have never fully realised quite how many bees there are in a colony!
However, all the visitors were fully kitted out in protective clothing and they felt fairly safe. No one got stung, so they were safe!
Three colonies were opened by our Apiary Manager and his assistant. The Apiary Manager had a sunny, long and comfortable look through his hive where the colony displayed themselves beautifully to the interested gaze of half the group.
The second group had a look at one colony who were a bit loath to briefly share their home so they were closed again and their neighbour was opened. These were much happier to show off their skills. The Queen and some remaining drones plus of course a lot of the female workers, were spotted.
After everyone was content that they had had a good view of what was going on, the hives were closed.
We all desuited and gathered in the kitchen where cake of various kinds and lots of tea and coffee was consumed.
The demonstrators thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon with such an interested and interesting group of people.
Thank you to Debra Mohyuddin, from the Eco-Initiatives Committee at Standard Bank Isle of Man Limited, for organising the event.
