Sarah Nixon

Bees: swarms and workshop

Bees are on the move. Jude Montague talks to A Curious Agenda about their upcoming bee workshop on Sunday 19 May and meets Sarah Nixon and her temporary garden swarm.

Swarms of bees can settle unexpectedly in a St Leonards-on-Sea garden. Sarah Nixon got this fascinating shot of a colony hanging from a tree in her garden. They were soon collected by Ed Thomas, an expert from Little Common in Bexhill, who estimated there were fifteen thousand bees in the group.

You can see a short family video about the collection here. It gives a great insight to this unusual domestic experience.

In case this happens to you, or if you have just wondered about the life of an apiary, A Curious Agenda are offering a fun-filled educational morning exploring the fascinating world of bees.

Miia Forbes, the festival’s director of imagination and founder, invites us all to ‘Come and bee curious around the fire at the Bee Potion Woodland Apiary in Fairlight. In this immersive workshop, your senses will Bee enthused by the wonder of honey bees and the miraculous ingredients they create: propolis, wax, pollen, royal jelly and honey. You can learn through creative and interactive experiences. Weather permitting, a hive will be open to allow participants to meet the bees up close.’

Did you know that bees have 5 eyes and 8 wax glands?
Ever wondered why bees waggle dance?
Or how many flowers a bee can visit in a day?

The session is run under the guidance of Katharine O’Brien, the founder of bee-inspired skincare company, Bee Potion. Katharine has been working with bees since 2017 and set up her sustainable, local hives to support her work with bee colonies and human communities. Her aim is to bring greater awareness of how bees can inspire us in our daily lives and teach us about the cycles of life, community, hope and creativity.

The Bee Curious workshop is for adults and children, from 10 years up.

Meet at The Bale House, Hastings Country Park, Lower Coastguard Lane, Hastings, TN35 4AD and you will then be taken to the secret apiary.
Please contact us if you have any accessibility issues and we will arrange transport to the secret apiary.
The walk to the woodland site from the Country Park Visitors Centre is 20 minutes.

There is very limited free parking at the workshop site (car sharing is advised). Alternatively there is paid parking at the Visitors Centre (breakfast and lunch are also available there).
The 101 bus goes to the Visitors Centre from Hastings train station and takes 18 minutes.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fVjdZGaWhbHt7XpC8

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