We were blessed with glorious sunshine, how marvellous!

Bishops Wood is where the club apiary is housed, and this meant we were invited to be part of the site open day.

The wider event hosted Viking fights, and a full Viking camp settled in demonstrating tool-making, basket-weaving, working with fleece, fishing equipment and cooking.

It was fascinating to find out about how they made beads, needles, tools and cutlery from different animal horns.

As always the public were fascinated to find out about beekeeping.

The observation hive was a fabulous draw for adults and children. Everyone wanted to know where the queen was.

A number of children referred to their school and the visit from the bee lady—thanks Sheila—which shows the education work of the branch has really had an impact.

Their parents were already on board too, so this is clearly being talked about at home. Everyone knew something about bees already; we helped them fill in the gaps to increase and deepen their knowledge.

The Homes4Hives leaflet was popular and here’s hoping that there’s lots of contact with those who would like to host hives, and those who would like somewhere for their hives to live.

It was great to meet the staff at Bishops Wood and find out more about what goes on there, as well as their plans for the future. Watch this space, we’ll be staying in touch with these guys.