Kids at a Thamesmead primary school have been 'buzzing' with excitement after they were given the opportunity to take up an unusual new hobby in recent years.

The Bee Club at Willowbank Primary School allows curious minds to get up close and personal with bees and beehives under the careful guidance of more knowledgeable school staff.

Gary Haydon, the premises manager at the school, has been running the club for more than three years after taking part in an amateur beekeeping course, wishing to pass on his newfound passion and knowledge to his students.

"The children absolutely love it, they get a first hand-education in nature studies with it.

"It’s a Bee Club so they’re normally the braver kids," he joked.

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The Bee Club originally started off quite small but with rising interested from bug lovers, they've managed to greatly expand their operations.

"The first year that we had a full year with the bees, we managed to get our number up from two to five hives. Now we have nine and they're all swarms we've managed to safely capture.

"It’s more for educating the children - that was the primary goal of the Bee Club," said Mr Haydon.

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The Bee Club has it's own set of children's protective beekeeping suits for the kids so they can chip in with hive maintenance and caring for the creatures.

According to Mr Haydon, honey collection also plays a massive part in club members' regular duties as they then go on to sell jars of fresh Thamesmead honey to parents and neighbours.

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"Last year it was a poor honey yield for us but this year will hopefully be better. In previous years we’ve had over 200 jars of honey come from our bees.

"We sell it to the children and the parents and all proceeds go back into the club for equipment," he said.