07/05/2026
Master Beekeeper Gerry Collins was guest speaker at the May meeting of the Friends of Cusworth Hall. Gerry is pictured with one of the jars of honey his bees had produced at their hives close to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
What Gerry doesn't know about beekeeping isn't worth knowing - a former examiner for the British Beekeeping Association, he captivated our audience with his illustrated presentation on the interdependence of honeybees and flowers. Superb photos and video footage made it a memorable talk.
Amongst the scores of facts and figures Gerry reeled off, we learnt that:
- bees can sense through their feet
- male wasps, which have longer antennae that their female counterpart - don't sting. Only female wasps do.
- foraging for nectar is carried out by older worker bees in their last few weeks of life. Younger bees have other jobs, including cleaning out the cells for the Queen to lay in.
- a group of forager bees act as scouts, it's their job to find good sources of nectar and report back to the colony. They hand over samples to other bees as they perform a form of dance.
- the honey bee is the most important pollinator for hundreds of flowers and bushes.
Gerry's final slide featured Albert Einstein, who allegedly said: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left."
That's how important bees are to our existence.
Earlier Dave Shore, Cusworth Park's Development and Conservation Manager - pictured with microphone - gave a round-up of activities at Cusworth Park and was congratulated for completing this year's London Marathon, raising over £2,000 for his chosen charity the Eve Merton Dreams Trust. Well done Dave.
Diary note: The next Cusworth Park Walled Garden Open Day is this Sunday 10 May, 11am - 3pm. Admission £4 for adults, children free. Pay cash or card on entry.
The next Friends of Cusworth Park meeting will be on Wednesday 3 June 2026, when the speaker will be Professor Ian Rotherham. His talk is titled Searching for Ancient Woods - Walking in the footsteps of Ghosts.
