In centre spot in the colourful exhibition at Ronaldsway Airport is a wonderful cone of light, shining out of 350 honey jars; its the Isle of Man Beekeepers Federation’s contribution to the 2018 Save the Children Festival of Trees.
This annual event, now in its 17th year, sees various organisations and charities compete for the most imaginative Christmas tree designs on display at the airport.
Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man Sir Richard and Lady Caroline Gozney beside the IOM Beekeepers Federation entry in the 2018 Save the Children “Festival of Trees”.
The event was officially launched by Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney on 1 December and the King William’s College Choir entertained the attendees at the ceremony.
The launch team, pictured below, consisted of Federation Secretary Linda Cain, Ramsey and District Beekeepers Association Secretary Maggie Hughes, together with Sean Cain and Steve Bassil, and joined by ex-Fed President Peter Long.
The Isle of Man Examiner reported
This year the exhibition shows a whole host of trees, including a golden glowing creation entered by the Isle of Man Beekeepers Federation with written facts about the honey-making insects inside jars that make up the tree.
Although all the exhibits are good, the Fed’s golden tower of light bookends the YouTube clip above. The Fed’s entry is part of both the introductory and the closing scenes, with footage to be found at 01 secs and 4.42secs, together with further footage at 58 secs.
Linda commented: “This project has been in development for a couple of years. Initially, Maggie and I decided to raise the funds ourselves by holding coffee mornings – we needed £200 pounds for the entry fee and then additional funding to build the tree and print the “Free Bees”
The tree itself was made by Signwrite and Mikey Connor was really helpful bringing our design to life. The costs of the tree was quite expensive but can be used over and over again with different heights for each occasion. We hope to display it in the Tynwald Library
My son Adam designed the front of the bee, and Maggie insisted on eye lashes, but we said no to lipstick!
Big thank you to Barbara Coward and Liz Jones for knitting the bees, Gwen and Esther for loaning the honey jars and to Callum at Quine and Cubbon for his design insights.
We couldn’t have done it without the Steve and Sean. And thanks to Peter and Heather who joined us for the launch evening, their granddaughter was singing in the choir, and Peter thoroughly enjoyed handing out “Free Bees” “
Clearly, a real team effort; and the Fed has a deep debt of gratitude to those two inspirational ladies, Linda and Maggie.
Finally, the project had not only an educational message, imparting various facts about bees, but a very serious one as well, highlighting just how vulnerable the varroa-free Isle of Man bees are to the danger of anybody breaking the law and importing bees onto the island.
Photo Credit: Isle of Man Independent
Excellent display, well done to the team.
Interesting article that Johnny, thanks
Wishing all of the IoM Beekeepers all good wishes over the Festive Season & a good honey producing 2019
From afar: Well done looks bloody marvelous! Thank you all for your perseverance and vision making this happen! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Steve