Bee Days Are Here Again

Published on: 8 May, 2024
Updated on: 8 May, 2024

Tunsgate Quarter

By Ian Blyth

Tunsgate Quarter has announced the launch of ‘Bee Aware Week’, an event running between Saturday, May 25, and Saturday, June 1, designed to raise awareness of the vital role that bees play in our ecosystem.

Coinciding with the May half-term holidays, there will be activities on each day of the event supported by a range of local environmental organisations including Guildford Beekeeper’s Association, Zero Carbon Guildford, Guildford in Bloom, and Surrey Wildlife Trust, each offering workshops, talks and demonstrations.

There will also be a variety of children’s arts and crafts and entertainment on offer such as face painting, films, and storytelling, plus the chance to ‘Meet the Bees’ with a transparent beehive on display in the centre.

As a community event, all activities will be free to attend, and everyone is welcome to come down and be part of the action.

A full programme for the week will be announced soon, but here’s a taster of what to expect:

Learn to make bee and bug hotels to take home
Make pollinator-friendly wildflower seed bombs to take home
Learn about the threat of invasive Asian hornets to our native bee and insect pollinators
Hear about our local biodiversity and how you can help support species under threat
Plant and decorate flower pots to take home
Free locally made honey tasting
Meet the Bees
Free Prize Draw Competition
Bee and Bug Hunt around the centre (win a sweet treat prize!)
Create your own artwork for our Honeycomb Collage Wall
…and much more!

Steve Cotney, beekeeper, in 2012

Steve Cotney, centre manager of Tunsgate Quarter, an avid beekeeper himself said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming the whole community into Tunsgate Quarter for our first-ever ‘Bee Aware Week’, which hopes to introduce people of all ages to the importance of looking after our local environment.

“Not many will be aware that Tunsgate Quarter has an apiary of two working beehives up on our roof top, several bat and bird boxes and a sedum green roof to support biodiversity.

“We also invest in a number of year-round initiatives to make our centre more sustainable. We hope to be able to produce our own Tunsgate Quarter honey and take visitors up to meet the bees in the near future!”