11 August 2016

THE STORY OF BEES AND CHILDHOOD SUMMERS

Story of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summer
Long summer days, endless exploration, laughter, ice lollies, muddy knees, running through tall grass hands outstretched, the soft hum of busy bees, all under a curtain of hazy light as evening rolls in bringing calls beckoning you home for tea. Ah the nostalgic days of summers gone, days that stretched like years from corners of my childhood. Looking down at this small boy of mine I wonder what memories his summer break will bring.

Story of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summer

Just like me as a child this boy has a huge heart when it comes to nature. Curious and kind seems to be his motto, carefully exploring and oh so gentle, so when we walked by a solitary bee struggling on the pavement of course he insisted we stopped and helped. Now I could have ignored his request, pulled him along with distraction, but in that fleeting moment I was pulled back to my summer of '87 where I stood over a small bee with my childhood bestie and we made a similar request to try and save its fuzzy frame from a similar fate. I smiled and nodded, watching his stern concerned face melt away as I sat on the pavement and leaned back into my seven year old self.

Story of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summer

"Mummy he needs a drink and a flower" ...Absolutely I reply and so we manoeuvre the small creature to the edge of a garden wall and I dutifully present a few drops of water while F picks a purple flower for food. Happy that he's helped, we set off and I look down in wonder at this small boy and the beauty of bees. 

Questions come thick and fast, Will he be OK? Where does he live? Where are his friends? And then I remember the slick and most beautiful Grand Beedapest Hotel that Taylors of Harrogate have created to share the story of bees and why they are so important to our environment. With that I start to describe the Wes Anderson inspired hotel in all its glory, with its bee gym and cherry bedroom, his eyes twinkle and he asks me if it's filled with all the flowers that they love *swoon* Oh and not to mention the Queen B! How cool is this video, see if you can spot her ;)



Eyes wide, he drinks it all in and was thrilled to find a hamper of bee related goodies that had been sent to us, along with a wonderful selection of beautifully packaged teas and a little bee hotel of his very own. Taylors have worked with the plant experts of Kew Gardens to create a wonderful range of distinctive fruit and herbal teas, which wouldn't be possible without our busy friends. In fact these superstar pollinators are so important to our planet they need all the help they can get to stop their rapid decline.    

We have huge lavender bushes outside our front door buzzing with activity from both honey and bumble bees alike. Each morning F passes with a 'hello bees' and he couldn't wait to place down the small city bolthole, how cute is this! 
Story of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summer, bee hotel

We spent our afternoon sipping tea, my absolute favourite being the Sour Cherry closely followed by the Sweet Rhubarb, and colouring in pages of botanical pictures. All in all a relaxing few hours creating new childhood memories for my small, and if you want to plan some bee friendly activities why not try your hand at making a bee hotel of your own. There a few ideas here and a chance to win tickets to Kew Gardens too. 

Story of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summerStory of bees, save the bees, fruit tea, herbal teas, taylors of harrogate, childhood summer
The bee hotel inspired us to do a bedroom makeover based on another of Wes Anderson's films for F. I love this campaign, it's certainly one we're behind. What do you think about bees? Could you make your own hotel?

*We were sent a Bee Hamper of fun from Taylors of Harrogate for the purpose of this review. 
All words and opinions are 100% my own.
P.S Save the bees! x 

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3 comments

  1. It's when I read posts like these that I really miss having a garden - somewhere to escape to and connect with the outside.

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  2. That video is brilliant. My kids will get a kick out of watching that. They are fascinated with and concerned about bees too. This reminds me, we've got to make a bug hotel this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. we planted lots of wildflowers this year to attract the bees to our garden!

    ReplyDelete

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