article: Brian Pool, a third-generation beekeeper, says he was used to working bees in the countryside where you don't hear anything except the odd bird call. When he came to zoo he was in for a big surprise. "To be working bees with the roar of lions behind your head was something fantastic and I wasn't ready for it," he says. "It's quite moving. What an experience." Mr Pool's mission is to inspire others to follow his passion for bees. He says: "It's been a tendency in the past that beekeeping was something people took up in their retirement but because of the decline in beekeeping colonies we can't wait until people retire." The average age of Scotland's beekeepers is currently in the mid-60s. And bees have other problems too. It has not been much of a summer and while we may feel a bit sun-starved, the honey bees are in danger of actually starving. At the end of last month the Scottish Beekeepers Association bee health officer issued a starvation alert due to the bad weather. It prevented bees getting out at a time when they needed a lot of food to support large nests. Parts of August have been better and that has allowed many colonies to top-up their stores but starvation is still a possibility in some places. It is estimated that there are maybe about 3,000 beekeepers in Scotland. Bees of all kinds are hugely important pollinators but they face big challenges, including the weather, pests and loss of habitat. Over the next three days, Edinburgh Zoo is holding a Bee Festival, designed to raise awareness about the issues facing them. At a behind-the-scenes part of the zoo, a handful of hives nestles among tall vegetation. The honey season is coming to an end but there are still pickings to be had from thistles and willow herbs. The zoo itself sits in 84 acres with plenty of plants around and within the bees' three-mile flying radius there is a wider city from which to choose. "You've got to be able to know what's going on with nature to work with bees, you've got to know the flowers," says Mr Pool, explaining what has been a lifelong passion. "It's great to be able to wander around the zoo and see where the bees are working, and saying to people 'this is important. Do you realise what the bees are doing here? They're gathering a crop of honey'." The beekeeper-in-residence role is part of a clutch of residencies at the zoo designed to engage different audiences in its work. "It really is incumbent upon us to put the spotlight on a number of issues that we think people should be aware of," says Kathy Sorley, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's "thinker-in-residence," who is also head of the programme. She explains that the initial number of bees which arrived on site was 120,000 but that is estimated to have risen to about 400,000. "It shows that they're very happy here and the amount of honey they're producing against quite difficult conditions
summary: Edinburgh Zoo's beekeeper-in-residence wants to use his role to get young people interested in bees and honey.