The Bees Knees

I've been a little obsessed with bees recently. Having spent a day stood next to a bee keepers' group at a show I now want a hive of my own, but the centre of Preston is not an ideal setting for the novice bee keeper, so maybe it'll have to wait a few years. 

Bees seem to be a recurring topic at the moment; whether it's short-haired bumble bee reintroduction or statistics on how a loss of bees will affect food prices. With over 250 species of bee in the UK there are many fascinating facts such as a bees wings flap 200 times a second, each worker honey bee produces around 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime and bees have 5 eyes (thee "normal" and two compound).

A quick internet search shows lots of other brilliant facts and good places to learn more about these amazing creatures. Why not try here, here, here and here. Also, if, like me, you long for a hive of your own but can't have one right now why not sponsor a bee hive for a year? For £30 you can support bees local to you, learn more about them and also get some great free gifts too! Get a buzz by doing something good for the planet and the bees, no sting attached.