Clockwise from top left: Common carder bee; buff-tailed bumblebee; leafcutter bee; honey bee; Regent’s Park apiary; Regents Park Honey (Bee Photo credits: Penny Metal)
Seeing bees in Regent’s Park
Last summer, we ran a bee tour for the Friends’ of Regent’s Park. On a warm August morning around 20 friends turned up to discover the bumblebees and solitary bees foraging in the flower beds. Equipped with our Bees to See guide, they were surprised at how many bees were buzzing in the bushes. They quickly learned how to identify common carder bees, furrow bees and buff-tailed bumblebees.
“I walk through this park practically every day, admiring the colours and scents of the flowers, but I have never before noticed the bees. Now, I will always look out for them.”
said one participant
The group also visited the bee hotels that we installed in the Regent’s Park allotment garden where red mason bees laid their eggs earlier in the summer. Here, they heard about the honeybees living in the park’s secret apiary, how these bees make honey and sampled the delicious, raw produce just harvested from the hives.
The 3-hour tour was such as success, that we have decided to run a similar tour once a month during spring and summer for anyone interested in bees.