Male wool carder bee on a favoured leaf from which he defends his territory.

This morning around 11am Meg Beresford set off on her ‘Let’s Make a Bee Line’ walk from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to Wiston Lodge covering 10km a day over 8 days.

The 10km a day is a carefully chosen number. It is all bound up with the bees Meg is bringing to our attention. A foraging bumblebee will fly 10km from its nest in search of pollen and nectar. Unfortunately, modern farming, and other changes in the environment, are making conditions for bees increasingly challenging. Meg wants to bring the plight of bees to a wider audience and fund raise for a meeting on bee conservation to be held at Wiston Lodge.

You can follow Meg’s progress at The Buzz Feed, a blog that will chart the progress of the walk. This will also give information of events that will happen along the way. If you would like to support Let’s Make a Bee Line donations can be given at https://makeabeeline.org/honey/

Meg at the Water of Leith on the first day of her Let’s Make a Bee Line walk to raise awareness about the plight of bees.

Ian Edwards (RBGE) joins Meg on the first leg of the walk.