We have lift off: Wild bees move in
The rocket hives at Trewithen Gardens are now home to colonies of bees.
After a little trial and error with placement of our Rocket Hives, we are thrilled to have spotted bees coming and going from a couple of these: Trewithen Gardens is now home to two wild bee colonies. Built to Matt Somerville’s Bee Kind Rocket Hive design, each hive replicates the natural nesting preferences of wild bees: quiet, elevated, and insulated spaces — much like hollow trees or logs. Matt, a beekeeper and conservationist passionate about resilient populations of native bees, has designed an hive that embodies natural engineering and minimal disturbance which helps bees thrive.
Each log hive measures at least 45cm in diameter and 80–90cm long, with internal cavities tailored for bee colony growth. As long as bees have access to diverse flora, there isn’t need for intervention or treatment — a key difference from traditional, commercially focused beekeeping.
The garden team crafted our log hives by hand, chiselling and hollowing each log, weaving the straw hackle, and positioning them with their entrance holes facing southeast, into the morning sun. Along with raising them off the ground on stilts, this positioning mirrors what wild bees instinctively seek in tree hollows. The team already have a new hive underway in the workshop, and plan to use logs from trees felled in the gardens — part of exciting developments near The Tea Shed — to add to the four hives already in place in the gardens.
We now have two active colonies calling Trewithen home. Have a look at @trewithen_life on Instagram for a video, or come see the hives with resident bees coming and going, for yourself (from a distance!). The first of the inhabited hives is on the right as you walk down Sycamore Avenue, to Henheadow Circle statue. You'll find the other tucked on the edge of the hill down to Eagle Ponds: walk left out of the white kissing gate and follow the tree lined fence.
Big Downs: to Wildflower Meadow
It’s no coincidence that we’re sharing this on World Bee Day, a date that, as well as celebrating this humble pollinator, highlights the many threats facing bees across the UK, from pesticide use to habitat loss. Natural England reports that 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost since 1930 in the UK. Saddened by the loss of wildflower meadows most of us recall as children, we have been working on hugely exciting plans to transform Big Downs into a wildflower meadow, starting this summer. We will write more as plans progress - watch this space.
Build it, and they will come
The approach we take to gardening at Trewithen, reflective of our approach to stewardship of land across the Estate, is to create habitats and avoid intervening where not necessary. By leaving deadwood in situ, this provides habitat for all manner of small mammals and insects and allows for the gradual return of organic matter to the soil. In a leafy, wooded corner of the gardens, we have nestled a hedgehog house – awaiting the release of a hedgehog cared for by Prickles and Paws hedgehog ‘hospital’.
It has been a joy to see bird and aquatic life making the most of the freshly dredged lake at Trewithen this spring. From recently introduce Trout, to resident Moorhens and Water Rails, to migratory Canada Geese, who have recently had goslings. A real highlight of April was Sam spotting a Hoopoe, a scarcely spotted visitor from Africa and Asia on his way down to Eagle Ponds!
We feel uplifted by the sight of these little creatures who now call Trewithen home, and look optimistically to a more vibrant, pollinator-rich future for Cornwall.
