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8th Hampstead scout group leader Ian Green with Eliot Edmonds and ‘sheriff bee-keeper’ of Camden, John Hauxwell |
Creating a buzz... Scouts walk for bees
SIPPING honeysuckle and glucose drinks, bee fan Eliot Edmonds completed a 26-mile sponsored walk on the Isle of Wight on Saturday – raising £269 to help the winged insects and the survival of the human race.
The 10-year-old pupil of Eleanor Palmer Primary School in Tufnell Park was the youngest of the 8th Hampstead scout group to complete the gruelling 10-hour trek around the island.
He was raising funds for researchers at Sussex University after watching a documentary warning of an alarming decline in numbers that is affecting our eco-system with potentially devastating consequences.
Eliot, who marked his 10th birthday on Monday, said: “I don’t think people realise that the bees are dying. If they die, they will not be able to pollinate the flowers and fruit – then we die. And all the bee-keepers will lose their jobs too.”
Eliot was presented with a pot of honey by Camden’s “sheriff bee-keeper” John Hauxwell on Tuesday.
He said the shortage of bees – known as Colony Collapse Disease (CCD) – was more of a problem in America where they are regularly “bused” from Florida to California to pollinate fruit fields.
“The team in Sussex are looking for funding,” added Mr Hauxwell. “I think what Eliot has done is really worthwhile – every little helps.”
Eliot is due to visit Sussex University bee experts Professor Francis Ratnieks and scientist Norman Carreck who are currently researching ways of breeding a tougher kind of bee that can survive increasing attacks from the Varroa mite that are killing bees in this country. |
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Your comments:
Well done, my Eliot. There is a bee in my wee garden buzzing for you.Your dizzy gran.
D. Harford
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