Bee Palace

Getting ready for a busy year…..

February 5th, 2015

Happy new year!! It’s never too late!

The beepalace team are planning a busy and exciting 2015.

Nick and family are back from Oz from where he posted some nice pics on Twitter. We were in India where the only reference to bees we saw was that the Hindu god of love is always accompanied by parrots, bees and a warm breeze.

But reading a little bit about bees in India it comes as no surprise that they are under threat. The Times of India reported a while ago that the decline in bee activity might be a worrying result of mobile phone usage :

“Frighteningly for India, the crisis (in the decline of the bee population) may now just be hitting home. Kerala has recorded a similar phenomenon (loss of bees), as have other parts of the country. But what’s causing this bizarre natural phenomenon could have something to do with the way you talk. Researchers investigating the trend say radio frequency radiation RFR) emitted by mobile phones and towers is the real culprit.” 

Also, the Indian rock honey bee, the largest honey bee in the world, is reportedly in decline. These bees are particularly sensitive to air and noise pollution, so their decline can be seen as another casualty of modern living. But at least there is research into these issues so we can hope that there will be solutions forthcoming.

The beginning of the year is a time to check stock and prepare for the Spring. Brian, our amazing Potter from Stoke is preparing some new samples of green and yellows and we are also looking at an aubergine glaze. We hope to have some more great colours to offer customers this year.

We are also going to provide a slightly wider range of nesting tubes in each beepalace. We hope this will encourage more nesting activity and we can continue to monitor the success rates for various tube diameters in order to continue to provide the best nesting place for solitary bees.

We are greatly looking forward to a busier fair schedule in 2015 that currently includes:

Firle Place (April 24-26) – at the foot of the South Downs near the fascinating Charleston House, home to some of the Bloomsbury set

Stansted Park (June 5-7)

Loseley Park (July 24-26 July) – just south of Guidlford on the A3

Weald and Downland Open Air Museum (14-15 November) – a brilliant place for a day out

Stansted Park Christmas Fair (November 21 -22)

Petersfield Christmas Fair (December 6)

Plus we hope to be at Longstock again and at South Harting festivities and a few more venues to be announced.

Whilst the bees are sleeping the birds are feeding – here are some outside the beepalace offices yesterday:

 

beepalace head office birds feeding feb 2015

 

 

 

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