Throughout the week, families can explore the site using a new, free ‘Queen Bee Trail’, included within museum entry, following the trail to help the Queen Bee find her way home.
On Wednesday 28 May (11am – 3pm), the Museum will host a ‘Nurturing Nature Day’, a hands-on celebration of bee-friendly gardening and traditional crafts. Children can plant their own sunflower to take home, while adults and kids alike can enjoy making rush coasters using natural materials.
Visitors will also have the chance to see skep-maker Jim Wood in action, creating straw skeps using traditional methods, as would have been done across Ryedale for centuries.
“We’ve built the week around our brilliant local bee heritage,” explains Rosie Barrett, Events Coordinator at the Museum. “Beekeeping has taken place in Ryedale for centuries. In medieval times, honey and beeswax were freely gathered from the Forest of Pickering. Before sugar, honey was the main sweetener, and beeswax had everyday uses, from waterproofing cloth to making candles and even early raincoats.”
As land ownership changed in later centuries, traditional rights to wild resources were lost, and beekeepers turned to using handmade skeps to house their bees. “These skeps were laborious to make,” says Rosie. “A single one could take a day to weave from rye or wheat straw.”
Rosie adds, “Ryedale was home to serious beekeeping operations. Some keepers managed up to 300 hives, even transporting them to the moorland heather in summer by horse and cart. It was tough, skilled work, and it’s part of the incredible rural history we love to celebrate here.”
The bee-friendly week also ties in with the Museum’s current exhibition, ‘Making a Meal of It’, which can be viewed throughout the season. The exhibition leads visitors on a tantalising journey through the resilience, innovation and culinary creativity of the people of the past. From farming and foraging to baking and beekeeping, the exhibition showcases the vital role of nature in the historic kitchen.
“This half-term, we’re showing how the old ways still have so much to teach us,” Rosie says. “Planting for pollinators, using natural materials, and understanding where our food comes from still feel timely today!”
All activities are free, included in normal admission prices. See the website for more information: www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk
