School of English bees

Dr Kristen Treen from the School of English has been working with the Botanic Gardens in St Andrews to create a new colony of bees. Beehives have been absent from the Gardens since 2014, but this summer Kristen, an experienced beekeeper, in collaboration with Professor Jane Stabler from English, Beccy Middleton and James Hearsum from the Botanic Gardens, and the Fife Beekeepers Association, has installed a new hive.

Together with volunteers, Kristen will be feeding the bees over the coming weeks with sugar syrup to help them build up their numbers and stores for the winter as they discover the natural forage of the Gardens. The School hopes that the new hive will not only boost declining bee numbers and offer opportunities to learn about bee-keeping, but will become a focus for social, welfare and creative activity and, eventually, for the gathering of honey.

A first walk to visit the bees and the stunning Botanic Gardens is scheduled for Friday 13 September 2019 (weather permitting) at 2pm. Those new to the School of English are particularly welcome to join this walk to talk and make new friends. For further details, please contact Dr Kristen Treen on ket4@st-andrews.ac.uk

Photos from the MLitt student bee walk (taken by Prof. Margaret Connolly):

Photos from the bee walk on Friday 13 September (taken by Amy Sansom):