Shopping centre's birds and bees

WARRINGTON’S Golden Square has become the first shopping centre in the UK to have a colony of more than 100,000 bees on its roof.
The centre has made the move to help halt the decline of the honey bee across the country.
Staff have worked closely with the British Beekeepers Association on the project.
A spokesman said: “We hope we can made a difference to the future of UK honey bees.”
On average, each colony should produce over 40lbs of honey annually and the centre will be donating its honey to local beekeepers for their hard work in the upkeep of these hives, with some profits also going towards the British Beekeepers Association.
Local school children will also be invited to visit the centre and understand more about the plight of honey bees and how they can help.
Golden Square is also supporting bio diversity by installing 15 bird boxes on site, bought from local charity the Walton Lea project.
This charity provides supported employment for adults with learning difficulties by seeing them undertake a number of projects including building bird boxes from unwanted timber provided by Long Lane Garden Centre. The bird boxes are then sold on to firms like Golden Square to help generate much-needed funds.
Golden Square Beekeeper Richard MacRae said: “Golden Square really is making a positive impact on its environment through these activities helping to reduce our carbon footprint and increase biodiversity for the area. Whilst many shoppers may never even see a honeybee, the centre really is a hive of eco-friendly activity now.”
The birds and bees activity follows the sweet success of a campaign spearheaded by Golden Square to help Warrington deliver a massive 65 tonne reduction in its carbon emissions and become one North West’s ‘greenest’ towns.
Pictured: one of the hives on the Golden Square roof.