Batterbee
Last night, several_bees, kevandotorg and I went to an event put on by Abel & Cole called The Big Buzz. It purported to be an evening all about bees, held in Battersea Power Station! As these are two of Holly's main interests, she feared someone might have set it up as an elaborate plot to murder her. And indeed, when we got to the event, we were not taken into the actual power station (firmly fenced off from us) but into a sort of metal hangar with 'Battersea Power Station' written on it, and there were no bees. We were offered canapes which I ate on Holly's behalf to ensure they weren't poisoned, though she bravely drank some of the complementary fizzy wine. We were then ushered to sit down on folding chairs (I sat down next to a man who promptly got up and moved to the other end of the row!), and then a very cheery man called Steve got up and did a shonky powerpoint presentation about his life in beekeeping. And it was great! We got to taste different kinds of honey and we learned many informative things about bees. For example:
1. In New York it is OK to keep bees in hives on top of tall buildings and then take them home in a bag on the subway at the end of the day.
2. Bees are very sociable and like to go around to each other's hives to say hello. ("They're adorable little critters!" said Steve, excitedly.)
3. In London it's best to keep "a gentle bee".
4. The kind of bees that get on best in Britain are quite grumpy ones that like going out in the rain.
5. You can keep bees on a boat in the Thames, but they get confused when the tide goes out and they come back to a hive that's much lower than it was before.
6. Bees are not magnetic, so it's also fine to keep them near electricity substations.
7. Most bees in Britain like rape seed oil flowers, which makes Steve cross. He made us eat some of the honey they produce, saying "Look, it looks like lard! It smells like cabbage!" (it tasted fine to me, to be honest) and then told us about how he liked driving bees up to Scottish heather fields and letting them fly around there.
8. There are hives on top of Fortnum & Mason and the Tate Modern.
9. The Barnes Wetland Centre won't allow honey bees on their site because they're not indigenous to Britain, so Steve is planning to put a hive in a friend's garden that backs onto it instead. (Tut, Steve!)
10. Bees don't poo in the winter, so it's good to have crocuses near beehives so that on a warm day in spring, they can come out and sit on the crocus and do a big poo.
Did I mention there was free fizzy wine? A building full of people laughing about bee poo is a splendid place to be. We availed ourselves of the hospitality a little more and went out to look through the fence at the real Battersea Power Station in the evening light. We all got goody bags to take home too! Our flat now has four honey drizzlers in it, if anyone wants one.
Thanks to the_alchemist for telling us about the event and providing a title for me to steal for this post.
1. In New York it is OK to keep bees in hives on top of tall buildings and then take them home in a bag on the subway at the end of the day.
2. Bees are very sociable and like to go around to each other's hives to say hello. ("They're adorable little critters!" said Steve, excitedly.)
3. In London it's best to keep "a gentle bee".
4. The kind of bees that get on best in Britain are quite grumpy ones that like going out in the rain.
5. You can keep bees on a boat in the Thames, but they get confused when the tide goes out and they come back to a hive that's much lower than it was before.
6. Bees are not magnetic, so it's also fine to keep them near electricity substations.
7. Most bees in Britain like rape seed oil flowers, which makes Steve cross. He made us eat some of the honey they produce, saying "Look, it looks like lard! It smells like cabbage!" (it tasted fine to me, to be honest) and then told us about how he liked driving bees up to Scottish heather fields and letting them fly around there.
8. There are hives on top of Fortnum & Mason and the Tate Modern.
9. The Barnes Wetland Centre won't allow honey bees on their site because they're not indigenous to Britain, so Steve is planning to put a hive in a friend's garden that backs onto it instead. (Tut, Steve!)
10. Bees don't poo in the winter, so it's good to have crocuses near beehives so that on a warm day in spring, they can come out and sit on the crocus and do a big poo.
Did I mention there was free fizzy wine? A building full of people laughing about bee poo is a splendid place to be. We availed ourselves of the hospitality a little more and went out to look through the fence at the real Battersea Power Station in the evening light. We all got goody bags to take home too! Our flat now has four honey drizzlers in it, if anyone wants one.
Thanks to the_alchemist for telling us about the event and providing a title for me to steal for this post.