WI members learn about bees and pollinator-friendly gardening

The latest meeting of Hayes Green Women's Institute was held at Five Ways Inn in Heath Hayes, which has only recently reopened after a refurbishment under a new landlord. The new landlord and his staff gave the ladies a warm welcome back to the pub on the evening of June 2.

The members of Hayes Green WI then went on to enjoy a very informative Bee Class presented to them by Alison Wakeman, who started off her talk modelling the protective gear she wears and uses when checking her bee hives.

Alison explained that bees have been on the earth since the dinosaur era. Today there are 250 different types of bee in the UK. 225 are types of solitary bee, for example miner bees, leaf cutter bees, mason bees, and 24 different types of bumble bee and one western honeybee. Three quarters of the world’s most important crops need bees to pollinate them.

Alison talked about the life cycle of a honey bee and told the ladies about the nine different roles a honey bee might take on in its lifetime. She explained what all the different parts of a bee hive are and talked about how she looks after her own bees. Alison shared some of the different products she and her husband make from the honey and bees wax her bees produce. Alison is a multi award-winning educator and guest speaker; further details can be found on Facebook.

Alison says that the drop in pollinating insects is a very worrying trend in the UK and worldwide. She encouraged the ladies of Hayes Green WI to make small changes in the way they garden to help pollinators. She asked the ladies to always keep a pot of flowering plants by a back door, to plant spring flowering bulbs every year, to grow herbs in a garden or pot and to pick and use half of each herb plant in cooking but to leave the other half of the plant to grow and flower and set seed, and if growing vegetables in the garden rather than pick and eat all the vegetables, leave a few in the ground for pollinators to enjoy. She also encouraged everyone to make or buy a bee hotel for the garden – Mason bees use these and the adult bees will return to where they hatched from themselves to lay their own eggs.

Any ladies interested in finding out how the Women’s Institute could offer them friendship are welcome to come along to Five Ways Inn, 1 Hednesford Rd, Heath Hayes, Cannock WS12 3HU. We are a welcoming group and we meet in the function room (entrance at the back of the pub off the car park) at 7.30pm on the first Tuesday of each month. On July 7th we have Severn Trent Water coming to talk to us.