There’s a buzz in the air

An eco group in Toryglen are helping a Glasgow college to bee good next year.

Urban Roots, who operate out of Toryglen Community Base, are going to teach Glasgow School of Art students how to keep bees.

The group have six bee-hives, or colonies, within Toryglen. Each houses a queen bee and around 60,000 drones

They run bee keeping courses each year for any residents looking to learn about the honeymaking insects.

Community Ranger with the group Tom Cooper said: “Everyone wants to keep bees now and Glasgow School of Art are no different. We will shortly be getting three additional hives for the Glasgow School of Art and we will be keeping them here, however we probably won’t be doing the course with their pupils until after Christmas.

“They originally wanted to keep the hives on top of their building, but we told them that wasn’t the right place for bees.”

And there is currently a beekeeping course ongoing for residents.

Tom added: “The bee courses are going well, we’re in to the practical sessions now, so they are learning how to properly handle the hives.”

The particular bees Tom ordered are Western Honey Bees, from Ayrshire as it is not wise to move bees great distances as they don’t enjoy shifts in climate.

In the temperate zone, honey bees survive winter as a colony, and the queen begins egg laying in mid- to late-winter to prepare for spring. This is most likely triggered by longer day lengths.

As well as making honey, the honey bees pollinate countless hectares of agricultural crops. It’s estimated that a third of the food we eat could be attributed to pollination by bees.

The productivity of modern agriculture would be drastically reduced without the humble honey bee. There is a whole industry based around trucking bee hives to crops for pollination duties.

Visit www.urbanroots.org.uk for more information.