We hear constantly about skills shortages in the UK, but there is one sector which is really struggling to find new blood - beekeeping.
Apparently, there are 44,000 beekeepers in the UK, but that's not nearly enough. The honeybee population is in decline and threatened by disease and lack of habitat. What's more, bees contribute £200m a year to the UK economy through pollination. No, Guru doesn't believe it either.
To combat the problem, those right-on folk at the Co-operative Group are
rolling out a scheme to train a new army of apiarists known as 'urban beekeepers'.The firm wants to get a new breed of urbanites interested in beekeeping - which is rather snootily known as 'farming for intellectuals'. It began training budding beekeepers on allotments in Manchester last year and the project is now being extended to London and Inverness.
Would-be honey farmers are sent on a free two-day course and, if they are interested, are provided with kit, a plastic hive and - of course - bees.
As a result of the pilot, three million of the little buzzers are to be introduced on allotments across Manchester by summer 2010. So if you're looking for a reason to get out of attending the
CIPD's annual conference later this year this could be it. Step off the train and you might be faced with a scene straight out the film
The Swarm.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/personneltoday/gurublog/~3/BtfTbPuw7jY/bee-warned---swarm-to-hit-manc.html
Posted
4 Mar 2010 8:57 AM
by
Guru
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