Bristol's annual Bee and Pollination Festival is returning for its 16th year with two days devoted to the creatures doing a remarkable amount of unpaid agricultural labour.
The University of Bristol Botanic Garden event runs on 5 and 6 September with honey tastings, talks, workshops, children's trails and more than a dozen demonstrations, including activity around a live hive.
and beekeepers will discuss pollinator decline, Asian hornets, farming, land management and the role bees and other insects play in ecosystems and food production. Under-18s, students and Friends of the Garden can attend free.
It is part public festival and part science communication exercise. If somebody leaves knowing the difference between a honey bee, bumblebee and solitary bee, while also carrying a jar of honey, the pollinators have probably had a decent weekend.