A taste of honey ... from the Museum!

02 Dec 2014

Manchester Museum has produced its first yield of honey from its own hive, set up on an adjacent roof and tended by staff specially trained as beekeepers

One of the Museum's two objectives is 'working towards a sustainable world', encouraging staff to develop initiatives that exemplify this.

Following a lead set by Manchester Art Gallery, the project to establish a hive on a roof adjacent to the Museum has been a huge success.

The small and dedicated beekeeping team has presented its progress to colleagues at regular intervals and has now had its first yields of honey from the hive.

Sam Sportun, Museum conservator and head beekeeper, said: “The honey tastes beautiful, and is incredibly floral, belying the apparently built-up local area as the bees forage far and wide.

“Our bees project has been a wonderful example of how an institution can live its values in a practical way; it’s a great example of staff development, and of social responsibility.”

The success of the hive has seen the team extending the project, for example ensuring that there are enough flowers in the vicinity for the bees to continue to feed.