Beekeepers unite to save Native Bees in Cornwall
Representatives of 4 bee groups came together at Godolphin House in Helston on 6th November 2017, to celebrate new signboards put up with the National Trust in the Medieval garden. The signs highlight the difficulties honey bees and other pollinators are encountering in the countryside and the importance of conserving and protecting our own Native Cornish Bees, representatives from Godolphin and The Bee Improvement group for Cornwall (BIPCo), The B4 group ( Bringing back Black Bees) , The Cornwall bee improvement and bee Breeders group ( CBIBBG) and Cornish Bees were on hand to put the new signs up at Godolphin house which has been a home for Cornish Bees since Bob Black introduced his colonies of native black bees there about 7 years ago.
The four groups have successfully introduced Native Cornish Bees onto sites at Eden, Heligan, Paignton Zoo, Paradise Park, Occombe Farm, Plymouth University, Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, Tregantle Fort, Cockington Manor House, The Duchy Nursery and Mount Edgcumbe Country Park Black Bee Reserve.
This latest venture with the team at Godolphin hopes to establish a Cornish Bee Haven on the Godolphin estate in the near future.
Gardner in Charge Juliet Turner said that you can’t underestimate the importance of Honey bees in maintaining the variety of plants and trees around the estate, and maintaining populations of well adapted native bees should be a priority in the county. Claire North, Visitor Services & Enterprises Manager at Godolphin, said they are pleased to part of such an upsurge in interest in our own Cornish Native Bees and visitors are very responsive and supportive of the project.
Maggie Freegard ( B4 Group), Robert Sheppard ( BIPCO), Claire North (Visitor Services manager Godolphin), Juliet Turner (Gardner in Charge, Godolphin), Bob Black ( Cornish Bees and CBIBBG)
