A group of volunteers meet at Tŷ Hyll each month to carry out various tasks in the woodland. This month it was time to dust off and put on the bee suit and take a peek inside the hives…
Every last Tuesday of the month we gather at Tŷ Hyll to carry out a range of woodland management tasks. These tasks vary each month and have, in the past, included; footpath repair, splitting and cutting logs for the wood store, removing invasive species, coppicing and maintaining the wildlife pond. However, this month was rather different! The arrival of spring and the sun shining down (although we did have a sprinkle of rain too) meant it was a perfect day to check how our bees were doing! After suiting up, preparing the smoker and gathering our hive tools, we set off in to the woodland.
Take a look at the video below to share the experience!
Bee Room at Tŷ Hyll
Unfortunately, the wet and windy winter of 2015 proved to be a very difficult one for the bees, and we are now, sadly, down to one colony at Tŷ Hyll. However, with plenty of visible brood in one hive and two more colonies on the way, we are positive that the bees will have a happy and successful year!
Why care about bees?
Bees and other pollinators play a crucial role in nature and in crop pollination to produce the food we eat. Sadly, as a result of disease, habitat loss and the use of insecticides and herbicides, honeybees and other pollinators are under threat. Here at Tŷ Hyll, we are doing our best to support pollinators. We have a spectacular wildlife garden, which is stocked with plenty of nectar rich, pollinator friendly plants, we’ve built habitat piles and pollinator ‘hotels’, we have an educational, child friendly ‘bee room’ and thanks to some dedicated seed-picking, plant-growing members of our volunteer and staff team, we even sell bee friendly seeds and plants! (Available from Tŷ Hyll, or you can visit our Seeds for Bees page to get yours!)
If you’d like to find out how you can get involved – Please get in touch with Bethan. You can e-mail me on bethan@snowdonia-society.org.uk or call the office on 01286 685498
Thank you to Phil Layton for putting together this short film of the day – Hope you enjoy!
