Capital Growth - Capital Bee

[Julie Thomas]

Is this of interest? Just heard about it in the past day or so...one of Boris's babies I think

http://www.capitalgrowth.org/bees/

[Stéphane Guéritte]

It appears to be another source of funding aimed to enthousiast beekeeping communities.

the "friends of capital bee" http://www.capitalgrowth.org/friends/  is a good summary of essential links related to wannae beekeepers.

[Elaine Henderson]

In case anyone is interested, this chance to apply for funding expires on Friday 28th January 2011.  Here's an e-mail I received about it

 Dear Friends of Parks Groups

I am sorry this arrived too late to include in the January News round-up email, but I thought sufficently important to send to you.

As you may be aware we depend on bees for pollinating the majority of the food we eat, let alone all the plants we find beauty and pleasure in that other invertebrates and birds depend on, and producing unique healthy honey - ironically better tasting from urban areas as their diet is more varied than in rural monocultures. Bees have been declining alarmingly in recent years, so the Mayor is supporting a Capital Growth bee campaign to encourage Londoners to create bee friendly gardens as well as become expert apiarists.

 

 

Beekeeping is a rewarding hobby with many potential benefits for the beekeepers, communities and for the environment . The Capital Bee campaign has been set up to help local communities gain these benefits; thriving biodiversity, happier communities, education, relaxation and a sense of wellbeing, pollination for parks, gardens and allotments, and possible enterprise opportunities. Beekeeping can contribute to London’s food security, and help the city do its bit for the nation’s ailing bee population. But Londoners can only enjoy these benefits if new beekeepers are well prepared, understand responsible beekeeping practices, have the time and finances to support their new hobby, and are starting with a site that is appropriate for keeping bees.  

Capital Bee is delighted to announce our competition for 50 communities in London to win the equipment, bees and training to help them start up with beekeeping.

The competition opened on 16th December 2010 and final date for completed applications is 5pm on Friday 28th January 2011. The winners will receive a beehive, the protective clothing, basic tools, training, mentoring and support to enable their community to set up with beekeeping by spring 2012. We know, however, that beekeeping is a big responsibility and takes time, dedication and the right sort of space for the bees and community to flourish, so the application process will be quite detailed.

More information and step-by-step instructions on how to apply can be found at: www.capitalbee.org

Kind regards

Alexandra Rook
Development Manager
London Parks and Green Spaces Forum
T 020 7983 4468
M 07811 465880

It appears to be another source of funding aimed to enthousiast beekeeping communities.

the "friends of capital bee" http://www.capitalgrowth.org/friends/  is a good summary of essential links related to wannae beekeepers.

[David Young]

This looked like an interesting possibility to get kitted out for free - especially as it's tied in with local food growing - but sadly technology has left us out in the cold. I tried to apply, but the website didn't function properly and my e-mails to Capital Growth went unanswered. Thanks to all for pointing this one out. We tried...

[Nilufer]

Hi, could you give us an update on this competition please..? Has anything happened since January ?

[David Young]

The update (see February 7 posting) is that the website would not accept our entry - so there wasn't one from us. If you're interested in who did succeed in getting Capital bee support then I why not check out the Capital bee website.

 

In the meantime our own apiary is up and running in Paddington cemetery and you can read all about it in the string on the Bee group page.