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New wildflower meadow is a hive of activity
Heaton Park is to benefit from nearly £10,000 to produce a range of projects at Heaton Park, one of which includes a wildflower meadow in the woodland by the Dower House, where the Manchester Beekeepers Association are based.
The Cooperative has granted nearly £10,000 to The Heaton Park Trust, for many different projects that are planned to improve Heaton Park, one of which is the wildflower project to enhance the visible and environmental profile of the woodland area.
The meadow will also improve pollen collection for bees resident at the Manchester Beekeepers Association Apiary based at the Dower House in Heaton Park. The honeybees are decreasing and the wildlife meadow will provide them with much needed pollen to produce fresh honey and feed their life-cycle.
The wildflower meadow will be developed by park wardens with the help of local school pupils, who will help with the planting of the flowers.
Councillor Rosa Battle, assistant executive member for culture and leisure said: "We are very aware of environmental issues such as the plight of the honeybee and are working hard to create sustainable environments in which they can survive. We have a number of projects in parks right across the city, which the Co-op are huge supporters of and it's thanks to them and the Heaton Park Trust that we have this money to make even more of a difference."
The wildflower meadow will use a mixture of 80% grass and 20% wild flowers. The mixture will consist of 13 types of flower giving the meadow a wide range of colour, height and species that will extend the flowering season from May through to August. The types of wild flower used within the meadow will be Hedge Bedstraw, Red Campion, Self Heal and Wild Foxglove, making up 9.8% of the 20% allocation.
Fresh honey from the bees at Heaton Park can be purchased at the park's Horticultural Centre and The Stables Cafe.