Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Bee & Pollination Festival

Last weekend saw the community ecology research group set off on their annual pilgrimage to the Botanical gardens to take part in the Bee & Pollination Festival.  Stallholders from all corners of the pollination world came together to educate and inspire people.  From bee keepers to cider producers, allotment holders to seed producers, the weekend was a resounding success with thousands of people attending the festival over the two days.

The University of Bristol Botanical Gardens

The focus of our stand this year was solitary bees and the team put in a huge amount of effort answering questions and talking to members of the public about the plight of our pollinators and what they can do do help.

Our stand ready and waiting for the public

Both the Saturday and Sunday passed in a bit of a haze as thousands of people descended on the marquee eager to see our insect collections and learn how to make a solitary bee hotel. We were even able to cater for many overseas visitors thanks to Alfredo who was able to answer questions in Spanish from the Argentinian couple below and our Brazilian team member Carine who could help out the Portugese speaking people.

Talya and Alfredo talk to members of the public about bumblebees

Naomi answers questions from a member of the public

Getting very busy!

Sam, Ellie and Hannah chat to members of the public about solitary bees