Get Bristol Buzzing - At-Bristol Gets a Live Beehive on the Green Roof!

The harbourside science centre, At-Bristol Science Centre, has welcomed a host of little fuzzy guests to its green rooftop, in the form of a hive of European Honey bees or ‘Apis mellifera’.

Philanthropically supported by a grant-making trust, At-Bristol and BeeBristol have been working together very closely, to get things ready for the bees, who moved into their new penthouse hive on the weekend. There are lots of areas for the bees to gather pollen, from At-Bristol’s wildflower rooftop garden to the neighbouring green spaces such as Brandon Hill and At-Bristol’s own community gardens out on Millennium Square. The bees will hopefully be able to produce their first batch of honey this year.

In the first 12 months the hive will be tended by BeeBristol beekeepers alongside At-Bristol’s own two newly appointed in-house beekeepers, who will be trained by BeeBristol, and who will eventually take over looking after the hive themselves. Not only will the new urban hive be used as a learning tool for both school and general visitors, it will also possibly provide honey for At-Bristol’s café and shop.

The new beehive complements the Honey Factory exhibit, where the little ones can learn through play by dressing up as bees, playing the pollination game and finding out about the bees’ waggle dance, linking in with At-Bristol’s most recent exhibition, Food!. A webcam will be installed by the hive to broadcast images of the bees live to the Greenhouse in the Food!, exhibition as well as on the Big Screen on Millennium Square.

Committed to sustainability, At-Bristol has reduced its energy consumption by 27% in the last 5 years. The science centre also holds a range of green awards including Green Tourism Business Scheme Gold Award, Soil Association Food for Life Gold Catering Mark and it also won the won the Bristol Tourism and Hospitality Awards in 2012 for sustainable tourism as well as bronze in the Sustainable Tourism Award at the VisitEngland Awards for 2014.

At-Bristol continues its focus on community and city initiatives during this important ‘green’ year for Bristol. Currently part of the European Green Capital project, it is not only currently playing host to an ‘Energy Tree’ outside on Millennium Square but also the Bristol Whales, as well as partnering up with Bristol Water for the Tap into Bristol free water fountain.

Chris Dunford, At-Bristol’s Sustainability Engagement Manager said:  “In At-Bristol we believe that the best way to engage the public and schools with the subject of sustainability is through working to become more sustainable ourselves. Over the last five years we have worked to reduce our energy consumption and adopt green technologies whilst also sharing this with the public through various installations, talks and workshops.  Our fantastic new hive will enable us to do this with the important area of bees, pollination and nature, as we share its story with our visitors so they can learn more about this fascinating topic. It has been exciting working with Bee Bristol to bring the hive onsite, as well as planting wildflowers on Millennium Square and our green roof, and creating the wonderful bee mural painted on the front of our building.” 

Tim Barsby, Founder and Director of BeeBristol added:  “We are really excited about the educational value of hosting bees on the At-Bristol roof and emphasising the importance of pollinators in this critical time. We hope to inspire a new generation of conservationists to be more aware of the role of bees in the natural world.”