Posts tagged ‘beecab’
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Beecab takes flight!
Our Beecab has emerged and is now buzzing around the streets of London!
Beecab is a London taxi which has been specially customized by artists and scientists for Pestival. It recently featured on London Tonight, and was launched from the Wellcome Trust on Thursday 18th June.
The theme of this year’s Pestival is the collapse of bee colonies around the world. To raise awareness of the plight of bees, one of London’s iconic black cabs has been transformed into a bumblebee in full flight, complete with a working beehive in the front seat. Keep a look out for this spectacular sight, which will be traveling around London and visiting schools from now until the festival opens in September.
The Beecab’s driver is Steve Benbow, a British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) beekeeper himself. Steve notes the aptness of the Beecab: “Bees and cabbies have more in common than you might think – the way bees navigate is very similar to the way cab drivers use the Knowledge to get round London. They both service the city, and with the Varroa mite wiping out wild colonies of bees, urban beekeeping is more important than ever. Bees are vital for the pollination of flowers and fruit in the capital, and beekeepers are the only way the population of honey bees can be maintained in London.”
Dr Pat Goodwin, Head of Pathogens, Immunology and Population Health at the Wellcome Trust, said: “The decline in bees and other pollinators may devastate our environment and would almost certainly have a serious impact on our health and wellbeing. As well as funding research into the reasons behind the decline in pollinators, the Wellcome Trust is delighted to be supporting Pestival, which will engage everyone with the vital role insects play in maintaining our way of life.”
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Is it a bee…is it a blackcab…NO it’s a beecab
Yes -designs are well underway to have Londons first beecab on the road by June.We all know how hard blackcab drivers work, collecting londoners and dropping them off at the right destination. It seems blackcabbies and bees both have ‘the knowledge’ when it comes to navigating their way around? Well yet again blackcab drivers are supporting the infrastructure of the city and are right behind our campaign to promote urban beekeeping here in the heart of the city at a time when bees need all the support they can get
