Newsletters

Our Newsletter is published at the beginning of February, April, July and October. It is sent by email and delivered by hand to members not on email.

Click here to view the Autumn 2023 Newsletter or read an extract from the Spring 2023 Newsletter below.

Bee Friendly Arundel

Not surprisingly, Nick Field, Arundel’s King Bee, attracted a full house on 2nd March for his very informative and entertaining talk. Nick’s subject was “Arundel’s Bee Project” but Nick first gave a fascinating description of the life of the honey bee and how honey is produced, a process that has barely changed since the days of the dinosaurs in which a Queen Bee is in charge and all the important work is done by female bees.

Honey is an amazing and important product with antiseptic properties and has been used to help dress wounds for centuries. The honey found in Tutankhamun’s tomb was still edible but jars of honey sold today have to carry a “best before” or “sell by” date. This seems quite unnecessary until one hears that there is a lot of adulterated honey on the market today. Pure, unadulterated honey will last indefinitely.

Nick was modest in describing the Arundel Bee Project but there is no doubt that Nick and a band of enthusiastic volunteers obtained the rare status of Bee-friendly Town for Arundel last year. The Bee-friendly garden opposite Arundel’s museum, and opened by Mayor Tony last year, is well worth a visit.

If you haven’t been there yet, why not also visit the Community Apiary at Herington’s Field, which Nick has helped set up, but don’t get too close!

Nick Field spoke passionately about the loss of wild flower meadows in England (97% since WW1) and how we should all try to help restore the balance by planting wild flower patches in gardens, on allotments, even in pots, tubs and planters.

A maze of honey-containing beeswax made by bees in a hive without frames in place