A new, brightly-coloured beehive has appeared on the roof of Theatre Royal Plymouth.

Earlier this week (6 October), the team from local community interest company Pollenize, delivered a colony of European Dark Honey Bees.

Around 20,000 of the insects are making Theatre Royal Plymouth their new home, as part of a drive to expand the local population of these threatened creatures.

Pollenize CIC have been creating a network of community-funded research beehives (also called apiaries) stocked with bees.

Other iconic businesses and buildings including The Box, National Marine Aquarium and the Genesis Building on Union Street, have also taken delivery of honey bees.

Owen Finnie from Pollenize said: “Theatre Royal Plymouth is part of a network of nine apiaries, spread out across the city. By bringing honey bees into an urban environment, we are hoping to improve the pollination in the area and allow people to understand why pollinator conservation is important.

“Honey bees and all other wild pollinators are extremely important to a healthy Ecosystem.”

Helen Costello, Operations Director at Theatre Royal Plymouth, said: “We are excited to welcome Pollenize and 20,000 bees to our rooftop apiary this week. Through joining this network of Plymouth apiaries, our new resident bees will create a welcome extra buzz across the city.

“This new project supports our commitment to protect and enhance our local and global environment. Ongoing activities include assessing and reviewing the organisation’s carbon footprint and re-using and recycling materials such as costumes, machinery, props and sets where appropriate.”

You can read more about Pollenize here: pollenize.org.uk