Watch : Granite City buzzing with arrival of urban beehives

Author: Dave GallowayPublished 20th Jun 2018

A leading city centre business organisation aims to increase biodiversity in the heart of Aberdeen city through Urban Bees.

As part of Aberdeen Inspired’s ongoing civic pride campaign, and to highlight the importance of pollinators, Italian Buckfast strains of honeybee have been introduced to the city centre.

The Urban Bees project aims to encourage businesses to engage in environmental issues, to improve understanding and to inspire positive action.

The project will also contribute to Aberdeen Inspired's 2018 Keep Scotland Beautiful entry. In previous years the organisation has been awarded Silver Gilt as well as being crowned the winner of the BID category in 2015 and 2016.

The city centre bee team received training with Aberdeen and District Bee Keeping Association and is made up of two service users from Alcohol and Drugs Action (ADA), a representative from Workers Education Alliance and Angela Joss, project manager from Aberdeen Inspired.

As well as having a positive effect on the city centre environment, urban bees also provide a therapeutic benefit for service users of various social inclusion groups, including Alcohol and Drugs Action.