With only three days to go until RHS Chelsea Flower Show kicks off, the excitement here at McQueens is palpable as we prepare to reveal two original installations - both aiming to raise awareness around bee conservation. The first,
Honey, I'm Home has been devised by our McQueens Flower School team - an impressive wooden hive structure will act as the hub and visitors will be invited to create honey bees out of craspedia that will then become part of the installation. By the end of the week, the hive will be covered in hundreds of the clever species - reflecting a honey bee colony! The second installation,
Per Oculus Apum invites you to see the world as a bee sees it - the large flower-filled tunnel will immerse visitors in a sensory world of beautiful scent, soundscapes and bee-friendly blooms. Instrumental to this thought-provoking design has been Dr David Lawson - Behaviour Ecologist at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, McQueens Flowers. This week, we were delighted to meet with the bee expert himself as we launched a collaborative menu with
Marcus Wareing, inspired by these pivotal pollinators...
On the idea inception and approaching Dr Lawson, McQueens CEO, Richard Eagleton explained -
“Simply put, without bees we wouldn’t have the flowers we love. Having been invited to create two large-scale installations at the prestigious and internationally renowned Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show - we knew we wanted to use the platform to not only showcase our commitment to thought-provoking and ambitious designs but one that carries a significant message. We were incredibly excited to discover inspiring articles by Dr Lawson such as ‘‘Clever bees can identify different flowers by patterns of scent’. With his specialism in floral displays and their effects on insects we knew we had to make contact - and brilliantly he responded with equal enthusiasm, bursting with brilliant ideas. It was from here that Per Oculus Apum came to life."