This article was written by members of Young Storyhouse. Find out more about Young Storyhouse here.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzzzzzzz. What on earth is that sound? And where is it coming from?

The answer is on the roof of the Storyhouse building near the children’s library, where two beehives are residing! Beehives, I know, who would have thought that Storyhouse has bees living on their roof? and we, the Young Catalysts, want to shout about this little-known fact.

Arriving in July 2019, the bees have made life interesting, with the original plan to have one beehive, the bees had other plans and decided to swarm and create a new queen, meaning Storyhouse now has TWO beehives. For those interested in the species, the bees at Storyhouse are European Honeybees (Apis Mellifera), the most common bee used in bee keeping.

So, why have the bees?

It was decided that the bees would help improve the sustainability at Storyhouse and the building was perfect for being able to keep the bees, so it seemed like a good idea. Another factor to having the bees is when the building was being designed school children were asked what they wanted Storyhouse to have and one of the children wrote that they wanted it to have bees. So now Storyhouse has bees.

Bees are important for the ecosystem and without them we wouldn’t have many flowers or food, as they help to pollinate flowers/plants and help to widen the gene pool.

Bee care

The bees are looked after by a variety of Storyhouse staff, who have been trained to care for the bees. They are supported by a local beekeeper, called Tim, who comes in to help and harvest the honey the bees make. There is also rosemary growing on the roof for the bees and plans for more plants to be grown at the back of Storyhouse. Now I imagine after reading this you are wondering about the honey and what Storyhouse does with it? Well, here is the exciting news, the honey has been put in jars and labelled up ready to be sold soon. It gets even better when you hear that the honey is also being used by The Kitchen in some of their food. Who knew? Well, I’m guessing you probably didn’t, but you do now!

So now you know about the Storyhouse bees and the mysterious buzzing sound you may hear whilst inside the building. Please share the news about the Storyhouse bees and be respectful towards nature and what could be the bee’s food source.

Storyhouse Honey will be available to buy from Storyhouse very soon!

Thank you for reading.
Young Storyhouse