Creswell Crags is buzzing after taking on more than 20,000 new recruits!
The Ice Age Archaeological Park, world famous for its pre-historic cave art, is becoming a hive of activity as it expands its operation with the recruitment of approximately 25,000 new honey bees.
The honey bees, which began their employment over a month ago, will live on site and act as key pollinators for the many plants and flowers growing around the gorge. They will also produce local honey which will be sold in the Creswell Crags Museum gift shop.
Animals have inhabited Creswell Crags for at least 125,000 years, and as part of a drive to boost today’s wildlife and ecology in the park, the team at Creswell Crags have partnered with More Bees Please to bring the colony of bees to the site. More Bees Please is a Sheffield based beekeeping business, producing honey, beeswax candles and beeswax based balms.
Paul Baker, Director of Creswell Crags says: ‘Bees are vital to our planet, but they are under threat from climate change, as well as urban development and intensive farming. It’s important that we all understand just what bees do for humans; we need them to pollinate our food crops, and other wildlife need them to pollinate the trees and plants in their habitats. By bringing honey bees to Creswell Crags, we’re doing our small part to keep this incredibly important species alive. We are also very excited that the Crags bees will be able to produce local honey, which will be on sale in our museum gift shop. We’re buzzing with excitement!’
The honey bees will live in a quiet, relatively untouched area of the site, away from the main pedestrian areas, giving them a haven in which to continue their duties. They will receive lodgings in exchange for their efforts, as well as a generous supply of nectar and pollen rich plants, some of which are very rare.
