Last Saturday a small group of boys from the 5th Dartford Scout Group’s Leigh Pack took a short walk from the Scout Hut to visit the Tredegar Allotments and the Dartford Bee-Keepers.

The first part of the visit was a guided tour of the allotments including a talk on the wildlife of the area.  The talk was illustrated with photographs all taken on site and the personal experiences of the guides.  The boys were then led to a Discovery Table where there were a number of natural objects for them to investigate and identify. They then discovered the herb garden and the strawberry patch before being invited to dig up some potatoes.  These were placed in a plastic colecting bucket and the plant remains were put on the compost heap. 

The boys then took a break in the picnic area for lunch under the glorious clear blue sky. 

The second part of the trip was to meet with the Dartford Bee-Keepers.  Here the boys were given a brief history lesson of bee-keeping before being shown honeycomb and learning about bee colony structures and how bees communicate through dance. They also learned what causes bees to swarm and why swarming bees are less likely to sting.  The boys were then dressed in white bee-keeper overalls with in-built face meshes before being led to the active hives.  Here they not only watched the experts handing frames of bees but they also helped in moving a hive box.  This required many of the boys to actually hold the frames that were completely covered in bees whilst the hive was re-arranged. 

By the end of the visit the boys had learned a lot about their natural environment and the importance of plants and wildlife.  The visit had provided them with a vast amount of information and had allowed them to learn in a fun environment.