A big challenge during the summer months has been protecting the hive from invading wasps, which raid the hive of its honey reserves. When attacked, the hive's guard bees respond by surrounding the invading wasps in large numbers. As the bees accumulate so does their body heat, smothering and eventually killing the intruders. Sadly, many bees are sacrificed in protecting their hive – wasps can sting multiple times, whereas a bee dies after it has stung once. For this reason, we do our best to assist the bees by luring wasps into traps filled with sugary drinks as bait.

​Another success for the bee team this year has been our first attempt at honey extraction. Thanks to our incredibly productive bees, we extracted five full frames of honey from a total of 14 (leaving some for the bees' winter reserves).

A year ago today we welcomed our first bee hive to Nepgill Park. Having won numerous awards for Nepgill's bee-friendly wildflower areas over the years, introducing honeybees seemed a natural progression. One year on, we're delighted to report that our honeybees have survived their first winter (and frostiest April on record) and appear to be in excellent health.
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Shortly after we installed the hive last May, our first colony of bees took up residence courtesy of local Blencogo beekeeper Adrian Cozens. As well as supplying us with bees, Adrian offered to show our community beekeeping team the ropes, sharing his expertise and also mentoring them through their first year of 'socially-distanced' beekeeping! Twelve months on, the knowledge and experience they've amassed is impressive, thanks primarily to Adrian's ongoing support and the team's unwavering commitment.