Burnley and Padiham buzzing with excitement as giant bee floats into town

Luke the keeper and Suzanne as the giant bee are pictured with staff outside Kendalls sandwich shop in Padiham.

The duo were Suzanne Smith and Luke Simpson, two of the founders of 'Simply Bees' who took to the streets to promote a Buzzin' Bee Day that has been organised by Friends of Ightenhill Park.

With Suzanne dressed as the bee and Luke as her keeper they visited a variety of businesses and were buzzing with delight to receive around £300 worth of raffle prizes.

The Buzzin' Bee Day takes place at Ightenhill Park on Saturday, May 18th, which is International Bee Day.

Visitors will be given the opportunity to see two bee colonies safely living in unique bee cages all thanks to the efforts of the Friends group.

Friends of Ightenhill Park group decided to host the hives in Autumn last year and several locals have been trained in beekeeping to be able to tend to them .

Luke, who is one of the beekeepers said: " I was immediately interested in helping the park more, and was really pleased when I had a chance to both support my local community, whilst helping bee preservation.

"Most people will know that bees are vital for pollinating flowers fruits and vegetables, but are in decline across the country."

Locals have followed their plight closely, regular looking to check in on their progress on the Friends of Ightenhill Facebook page.

Thanks to the interest in the bees Suzanne and another member, Amanda Thornton, decided to put some cash into a charity pot, buying a range of bee merchandise for sale to support the bees.

Establishing Simply Bees as a voluntary organisation, they approached Big Gannow Local to help finance their ‘beefriendlier’ campaign and received a small grant to further their message.

The giant bee suit – which will become the mascot for Ightenhill Park, will be named by local children at the event in May.

Focusing on bees there will be bee themed talks, games and goodies and the community will also get the chance to hear about the therapeutic value of nature, getting outdoors and exercise.

For more information about the Buzzin' Bee Day go to [email protected] or send a message on twitter @simplybees1 or via the Friends of Ightenhill facebook page.