THE speaker at our March meeting of Cheriton Fitzpaine Gardening Club was David Packham, who was already known to some of our members who keep bees.

David has 10 hives of his own and is a Bee Inspector for the area. Using some really beautiful slides, he explained the lifestyle of the honey bee.

Without the bees we would not have enough food and farmers especially rely on them for pollination. Many have returned to the traditional practice of leaving a narrow strip of land around ploughed fields to allow wildlife to flourish.

Apart from those plants such as lavender, which we all know attract bees, many other species such as willow, oil seed rape, bramble, white clover, bell heather and lime trees are among their favourites.

Chairman, Andrew Dean thanked David before reminding us of the forthcoming Spring Show tomorrow, Saturday, March 24 at 2.30pm in the Parish Hall.

There will be exhibits of photographs, children’s pictures, craft items and plants. Competitive classes include flower arranging and cookery.

This afternoon, Friday, March 23 at 4pm in the Methodist Hall, Mary Nunn and friends will be available to help anyone who wants advice with their flower arranging entries. Children and young people are welcome.

Our next monthly meeting will be on Thursday, April 19 at 7.30pm, when Ian Johnson will be talking about Compost Doctoring.

Our Annual Membership is £12 and visitors are always welcome at a cost of £2.

On Saturday, March 17, despite the freezing weather and snow flurries, some intrepid members of the Club joined together for a Spring tidy-up of Church Cross, a small patch of ground in Cheriton Fitzpaine for which we are responsible.

Mary Nunn