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Episode 1

Episode 1 of 4

Series that follows broadcaster Martha Kearney through her beekeeping year. Things get off to a bad start when unseasonal snow in spring threatens to kill her bee colonies.

Martha Kearney's year gets off to a bad start when unseasonal snow in spring threatens to kill the bee colonies she keeps in her garden in Suffolk. With help from a master beekeeper, Martha feeds her bees and takes one of the hives to a wildflower meadow at a neighbour's house along with two brand new hives.

She discovers the intricate hierarchy within the bee colony and learns how the organisation of the hive has become a metaphor for human society. At a London school, she learns the secrets of urban bees' success even while bees in the country as a whole are in decline. The episode ends with three new hives established on a wildflower meadow, ready to start producing classic British wildflower honey.

30 minutes

Last on

Mon 26 Jun 2023 19:00
BBC Four

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Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Frederick Delius

    North Country sketches: Winter landscape

    Performer: Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley (conductor).
  • 00:16

    Penguin Cafe Orchestra

    Chartered Flight

Credits

Presenter Martha Kearney
Series Producer Tom Sheahan
Executive Producer Chris Shaw
Executive Producer Emma Read
Executive Producer Clare Paterson
Production Manager Emma Wood
Sound Recordist Tom Curry
Sound Recordist Joao Do Valle

Broadcasts