A COMMUNITY garden kicked off its summer programme for youngsters with a bee day.
Parents and children looked at beehives, helped cook honey pancakes and played games at Bulwell Forest Garden in Austin Street.
More than a hundred people turned up, with many children playing in the garden's wooded area and eating freshly-grown strawberries.
Hayley Matthews, who took daughter Millie, six, said it was her first time in the garden.
She said: "Now we'll be coming along every Friday.
"She's mostly been in the woods. They've loved running around in there. It's nice because it's safe and tucked away, so I don't worry."
And Joanne Castle signed up to last year's programme with daughters Abigail, five, and three-year-old Holly.
"They love pulling out the veg," Joanne said. "We're growing carrots and onions and beans at home as well."
Garden committee member Ruth Clarke, who took along daughters Elizabeth, seven, and Katie, five, was running the face painting table.
Elizabeth said she had enjoyed eating pancakes and had helped to spread the honey, while sister Katie was the official taster.
Also on sale were jars of honey and plants to attract bees.
Notts Friends of the Earth were at the event to champion their 'Bee Cause' campaign which is working to make Notts more bee-friendly by banning some pesticides and creating more wildflower areas in gardens and allotments.
Campaigner Greg Hewitt said: "It's definitely raising awareness about the importance of bees.
"If we didn't have bees we wouldn't have the food that's pollinated by bees, like fruit and veg, and it would cost £1.8 million a year for hand pollination of our crops."
The group is also running a petition to get the Government to adopt a bee action plan – they might have been encouraged to see Nottingham North MP Graham Allen in a bee costume.
He said: "It was good fun. The little kids loved it, and one big kid loved it as well.
"The number of species of bees in the UK is declining rapidly and I was delighted to support the campaign to raise awareness of our British bees."
Alison Knox, of Nottinghamshire Beekeepers' Association, took along a virtual hive for children to find the queen bee.
She said: "Most kids are curious.
"These days a lot don't get the chance to touch much stuff that's natural, so when they were handling the wax they were very suspicious."
The garden is holding a series of events for children every Friday throughout the school holiday.
Garden committee chairwoman Barbara Bates said: "It's been about putting that message out there about bees and also just being a great day out.
"Kids are also learning about what vegetables look like as they're growing. They're identifying that this is what potatoes look like before they come out of the ground."
