A CEREDIGION honey farm is opening its doors to the public for free to celebrate World Bee Day.

The Afon Mêl Honey Farm and Meadery is shining the spotlight on bees and their importance with a range of community celebrations and a free entry to a bee exhibition in the lead up to World Bee Day.

World Bee Day is Saturday 20 May, but the honey farm has made sure you don’t have to wait until the weekend to buzzing about bees.

The New Quay based Afon Mêl kicked off the celebrations on Monday 15 May by offering free entry to its bee exhibition until Saturday 20 May.

A spokesperson for the farm said: “The free entry to the exhibition gives a rare opportunity to get up close to live honeybee colonies, enabling safe observation from behind glass. A view that, normally, only beekeepers see. You’ll also learn about honey production, bee communication, and the critical role these insects play in our food system.”

Afon Mêl
The honey farm is offering free entry this week (Janet Baxter)

Afon Mêl’s owner, Mr Sam Cooper said: "We want to raise awareness of the essential role honey bees and other pollinators play in caring for our environment and ensuring a thriving world for the next generation. I’ve been beekeeping for 36 years and I am thrilled to invite everyone to join us for World Bee Day at Afon Mêl Honey Farm & Meadery.”

Afon Mêl aren’t keeping the celebrations to just the farm either. Afon Mêl have worked with Y Seler, a new restaurant in Aberaeron as well as the ‘award winning’ Albion in Cardigan to bring the celebrations there. Both venues will be serving what they call ‘the bee's knees’ cocktail, a honey-based drink supplied by Afon Mêl farm.

Y Seler’s bar manager Mr Paul Davies said: "Adding a honey-based cocktail to our menu may seem like a small act but it is something very simple we can do and we want to bring awareness to the plight of the bees. Bees are responsible for one of every four bites of food that we eat. Losing bees would be a disaster. This is a way for people to get involved simply by enjoying a bee's knees cocktail.”

David, the Albion’s Bar manager, said: “As the award-winning venue in Cardigan, we have always believed that working with local ingredients and products makes for the most exceptional dishes & drinks. This is our way of having a bit of fun whilst supporting bee conservation.”