This talk and all our lectures are FREE for Friends of the Botanical Gardens to attend. Members of the public are also welcome to join us on payment of £5 at the door on the day. Live talks are held in the Education Centre in the grounds of the Botanical Gardens - easily accessed via the Thompson Road Entrance.

Honeybees are major players amongst the vast array of insect pollinators that ensure the survival of the majority of our trees, fruits, vegetables and flowers. They are unique in many ways - not least that they are the only insect species that produces food for human consumption.

This talk, in two parts, by Master Beekeepers Bron White and Phil Khorassandjian, focuses on the fascination and joy of keeping bees and the importance of forage for insect pollinators. They will be joined by Carolyn Clark our FOBS chair who is also an enthusiastic beekeeper and honey producer.

Bronwen came to beekeeping after hearing about the benefits of bees for pollinating vegetables and decided that keeping bees would complement growing vegetables on her husband’s allotment. For Phil, his wife’s work in Africa involved working with beekeepers and encouraged them to get a couple of hives; produce from their bees foraging in an equatorial rain forest was transformative in their appreciation of honey. Back in Sheffield, a chance swarm in their garden decided them to take up beekeeping again.

Sheffield Beekeepers’ Association website