BEE ALERT: If you happen to live close to the Ripley Town Centre you may notice more bees in your garden over the coming years.
RIPLEY Town Centre is always busy, but now it can boast to be a hive of activity.
The reason is six colonies of honeybees have now taken up residence at the centre.
Bee One Third is the group behind the project which they say will enhance environmental, economic and health benefits for the Ripley community.
The European honeybees will contribute directly to the biodiversity of the natural surrounds by pollinating
local flowering plants — an essential part of plant reproduction and plant diversity.
An added benefit is the bees will produce more than 200 kilograms of honey each year which will be provided to Ripley Town Centre food tenants to use in dishes, and also to available to purchase.
Bee One Third Project Manager, Kathy Knox, said the introduction of hundreds of thousands of bees to the Ripley community will help to build awareness about the importance of supporting pollinators.
“Its fantastic Ripley Town Centre has become a hosting partner to promote positive local change through our urban pollination project,” she said.
“Our partnership provides an opportunity to educate the community on the importance of pollinators, their role in our environment and the broader ecosystem, and how they contribute to food security and seasonal food production,” she said.
“While the number of bees fluctuates throughout the season, there could be as many as 60,000 bees on average in each colony.
“Just one colony of bees will pollinate all the flowering species within a 5km radius, encouraging the growth of more native flowers and diverse plant species. “The taste of the honey responds to the local conditions.”
