Winter is a quieter time for beekeeping, but I’ve been busy over the last few months writing, filming and talking about bees!
You can read my article about the beauty of beekeeping (and collecting a swarm of honey bees!) in Sheffield’s brilliant Now Then magazine.
I was also commissioned to write a new poem for #ParallelState’s Beyond the Anthropocene, coinciding with COP26, for the Coventry Biennial, co-curated by Eelyn Lee and Helen Kilby Nelson. The Parallel State is ‘a breakaway state – a space to collectively imagine alternative solutions to life on earth – free from the oppositional constraints of the failed states in which we live.’ Along with other artists and thinkers, I was asked to think about the following provocation:
What does the landscape look like in the Parallel State and what new epoch has emerged in a more equitable, de-colonised, post-capitalist world where humans are harmoniously entangled with nature?
My poem explores how we might let honey bees guide us into the landscapes of the Parallel State. You can become a citizen of the #Parallel State here.
Finally, it’s also been my pleasure to work with Jan Bella, Richard Larson and Manchester & District Beekeepers Association on Bee the Hero, a glimpse into the life of the European honey bee.
If you want to support honey bees, the British Beekeepers Association has some excellent information, including the top ten flowers you can plant, with lots of well-known plants, like snowdrops, crocuses, lavender and foxglove on the list.
One of the things I love about beekeeping is the community. If you’re interested definitely check out your local beekeepers association – everyone’s always super keen to help beginners!
Rachel Bower 