Thousands of bees were installed in a beehive on the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the City of London festival in the capital. The hive is one of eight being installed at City locations including the Lloyd’s building, Mansion House, the Museum of London and Sir John Cass Primary School as part of the City Bees project.
The Times (16 June, p.16)

BBC Wildlife reports on a study by Leeds University which claims biodiversity on organic fields was only 12% higher than on other farms. The Soil Association’s Head of Policy, Emma Hockridge said: “It’s naïve to think you could have an intensive system that doesn’t impact on wildlife in neighbouring areas. We need farms to retain all of the wildlife in the local environment.”
BBC Wildlife Magazine (1 July, p.38)

Visitors to Britain's open farms are being urged to take greater care to avoid contact with animal droppings in order to reduce their risk of being infected with a potentially fatal form of the E coli bacterium. That advice is contained in the report of the independent inquiry into the biggest outbreak of E coli 0157 at a UK open farm, which last summer affected 93 people, 76 of whom were children under 10.
The Guardian (16 June, p.12)
The Independent (16 June, p.24)
Soil Association comment: The Soil Association is keen to ensure that all organic farms on our open farm network and all farms working with the Soil Association-led Food for Life Partnership, which host visits for school children, are as safe as possible. We will be working with other organisations who promote farm visits to see how the recommendations can best be implemented in order to provide the safest environment for visitors, yet not losing the authenticity of a working farm. Whilst the consequences of this outbreak have been very serious, and the risk is very real, such incidents are rare given that millions of people visit farms each year.

The World Cancer Research Fund warns that four out of five children are not getting their 'five a day'. According to the charity, this could increase the risk of developing cancer because they don't get enough of the vitamins and nutrients found in fruit and vegetables.
The Daily Telegraph (10 May, p.12)
Food for Life Partnership* comment: Through working with more than 2,000 schools we have found that children who understand where their food comes from, by growing it themselves or visiting farms, are much more likely to eat fruit and vegetables. Myah-Amber, a pupil at Chestnuts Primary School in London, grows food in the school garden. She says: "I've learnt that vegetable can grow underground...I didn't know that before. It's healthier because I know that vegetables are good for me so I try very hard to taste different kinds I didn't before."