Latest news with #hobby
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Student beekeeper finds 'bee paradise' in the heart of Oxford
A university student says he has found a "bee paradise" in the heart of Oxford after pursuing his Maxen, 23, from St Albans in Hertfordshire, splits his time between studying cancer science at the University of Oxford and taking care of tens of thousands of bees in two hives at the Great Meadow, owned by Merton took up the unusual hobby earlier this year after spending a couple of years researching beekeeping and "going down a rabbit hole" of watching YouTube videos about Maxen had initially posted on neighbourhood app Nextdoor, asking the Oxfordshire community to put his beehive "in someone's back garden" and was "overwhelmed" with replies. "Sometimes there'd be a really nice story involved - there are a lot of people whose parents had kept bees when they were a child and they now want to reconnect with beekeeping," he explains."[Others] were maybe too old to bee keep themselves but really wanted to get involved."But he changed his mind over potential stings and him visiting someone else's space during "unsociable times".Instead, he reached out to about 20 university colleges and Merton College offered "a beautiful wildflower meadow here that they'd happily house my bees"."Now, I'm in a bee paradise right in the heart of Oxford." 'Bees are like pets' He first became interested in having his own bees about two years ago. "I was supposedly revising for exams, but then I accidentally went on YouTube and ended up going down a three-hour rabbit hole," he says."I was watching Just Alex and he's quite a young guy as well, so I thought 'if he's able to do beekeeping, there's no reason I should kind of wait till I'm older'."Mr Maxen says beekeepers "have a tendency to start thinking of the bees as their pets". "There are somewhere between 10,000 and 60,000 of them... but maybe you could view one hive as one big pet," he explains, comparing it to the emotional support some might get from a dog. Mr Maxen says his friends were initially "understandably surprised" by his hobby."But they've all got super into it and I've had lots of friends coming down to the hives to get involved."He even started naming the queen bees after them, such as Bee-ola after his girlfriend Ceola and Badeline after his friend Maxen says his "dream" is to harvest between 50 to 100 jars of honey, twice a year in spring and autumn."That way I'd be able to give some away for free to my friends and family which is the most important thing for me," he says."But also, it would be very cool to get my own honey to one of these garden markets or markets that we have in Oxford, and be able to sell them to the public as well." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
How learning new activities helps prevent dementia, from dancing to jigsaw puzzles
Muscles need exercise to be strong. Your brain is no different – challenges sharpen its skills. So to maintain mental fitness, it is important to continually take on new activities. This stimulates brain structures strongly subject to age-related processes and can help prevent dementia , according to the Alzheimer's Research Initiative (AFI), a Germany-based non-profit organisation. Taking up a new hobby, learning a foreign language or joining a local theatre group will not only spice up your life, but also boost your brain. When we think of ways to train our mind, doing crosswords and Sudoku puzzles often come to mind. But they are not very effective, the AFI says, because they only require you to call up information you already know. Joining a local theatre group might not just spice up your life, but also boost your brain. Photo: Shutterstock Watching television is not mentally demanding either.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Footy legend Buddy Franklin reveals he's found a new passion for INSECTS
Lance Franklin has opened up on a newfound hobby he and his wife Jesinta have happened upon. It appears the pair, who live on the Gold Coast, are planning to keep a colony of bees. The Hawthorn great made the revelation on his podcast, the Buddy & Shane Show, with his co-host, Shane Crawford explaining how he'd spent his weekend watching several games of local and senior football. He also revealed he went to watch his son play this weekend for the Blues and had sent a text to Franklin asking him if he would like to join him to 'pop his head in' and watch the match, stating that it wasn't far away from his home. However, the former Sydney and Hawthorn great explained that he had a 'busy weekend' with Crawford then delving into why he was so busy. 'You said you had a few things locked in,' Crawford began to probe. It comes as Jesinta and Lance have opened up on their plans to start a farm at home 'One of them, which I saw on your beautiful wife's socials yesterday, and I thought you were mucking around when you sent me the message, so what was the message you sent me?' 'I did a beekeeping course, which was incredible... that was my weekend!' Franklin replied. His wife, Jesinta took to Instagram on Sunday to post several pictures of what appeared to be the couple harvesting trays of honey from several bee hives at the Gold Coast Amateur Beekeepers Society in Nerang. Clad in beekeeping suits, they collected honey trays, while Lance was also seen scraping the golden nectar from one tray into a bucket of honey. She captioned the Instagram: 'New level unlocked' adding several bee emojis. 'My Dream weekend.' 'It was incredible. Me and Jesinta did it. We spent a half-day Saturday and then a half-day Sunday...' 'Buddy the Beekeeper,' Crawford interrupted. The couple had admitted that they were looking to sell their $11million mansion last year 'Buddy the Beekeeper,' Franklin responded. 'But no it was incredible. Bees are just an amazing thing really, what they do. To get the opportunity to do that course, was incredible.' Franklin then opened up on his ambitions to grow his own honey and have his own beehives. 'We will,' he explained. The Hawthorn legend and his wife Jesinta have been looking to sell their $11million mansion in Queensland in recent years. It comes last year after the 2010 Miss Universe Australia winner, Jesinta, had revealed that they were planning to live off-grid after famously smashing record house price records when they acquired the sprawling Reedy Creek home for $8.75m in 2022. But they are now planning on giving the farming life a crack. 'We are looking at so many properties, we spend our weekends out in the country, driving and looking for land,' she told Daily Mail Australia at the end of 2024. 'We haven't found the perfect spot yet, but I feel like we're getting close. But the former Miss Universe Australia winner explained that they were yet to settle on the right plot of land 'It's really important to get the right piece of land for what we want to do and it's really exciting.' She added that they want to build a luxury farmhouse when they do eventually land on a site for their potential new home in the countryside. 'We'd like a luxury farmhouse, barn-style with lots of veggie gardens,' she explained. And it now looks as though once they do finally find their new abode, the pair could look to start a colony of bees and make their own honey.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wings and Things event in Onondaga
ONONDAGA. N.Y. (WSYR-TV)– The Summit Church hosted the Wings and Things event on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 10 a.m. The event was located at the OMAC fly field, and featured live model aircraft demos, a picnic lunch, which had guests bring meat to grill, and a worship service. 'We care for it, and then we have an event like this, which is wonderful. We hope to bring in younger kids and other people into the hobby,' said Robert Dano. 'It's a great hobby. You learn about aerodynamics. You build and fly, you learn a lot.' Two local men ordained as Priests for the Diocese of Syracuse Some of the planes that were featured were built by hand, while others were constructed together from a kit. This special celebration was free and open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Woman Says Married Man She Thought Was 'One of the Good Ones' Keeps Messaging Her, and Now She Wants to Leave Their Mutual Group
A woman wrote on Mumsnet that she wants to end her hobby with a mutual group of friends due to one of its members According to the woman, the married man, who she swore "was one of the good ones," often tells her he has feelings for her "In the last month or so, he's started messaging me, to the point that it's become almost daily," the woman saidA woman is contemplating ending her hobby with a mutual group of friends due to one of its overbearing members. The woman detailed her dilemma on the U.K.-based forum Mumsnet with the subject line, "I need to do something about this man." Explaining that the individual is "married to someone I know and like," the woman continued, "I've heard bits and pieces from both of them over the years, suggesting that their relationship isn't great, but I always assumed these things crop up in a long marriage, and none of my business anyway." Added the woman, 'I socialize with him quite a bit in a group. His wife is always invited, but often declines to come.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Recently, the woman said her view of the man changed "after many years, where I'd have sworn he was one of the good ones." Detailing that she had "never seen or heard anything inappropriate from him," the woman said the man has since "decided to tell me 'how he feels.' " And though she has "tried to shut it down," the woman said that "things will be normal for a while, but as soon as he has a drink, he's there declaring feelings again." "In the last month or so, he's started messaging me, to the point that it's become almost daily. Nothing flirty, always positive," the woman continued, adding, however, that "it's the sudden change, alongside the other conversations, that bother me." Concluding her message by noting that she "can't just cut him off, or at least not without sacrificing my main hobby and friendship group," the woman further explained, "I'm not inclined to do that because a man is being ridiculous." The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! In the comments section of the post, other Mumsnet users agreed that the man was testing the boundaries. 'Your gut is correct — his MO has changed and he is nudging boundaries,' one user wrote. 'You sense it, you know it. The nudges are deliberately small so that you would feel foolish calling him out in the moment on a single incident.' is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! Others, meanwhile, stressed that it was up to the woman to draw a hard line. 'You can't enforce boundaries if you persist with this. Just tell him to stop messaging you,' one person commented. Read the original article on People
