A HIVE-warming party for a new crop of bees will be held this Sunday, with public honey-tasting and the chance to try on a beekeeper's suit.

Woodcroft Wildspace, a charity that signed a three-year lease for the site in November last year, is celebrating the installation of its five-hive apiary, the centrepiece in a project to transform a football ground into a wildlife sanctuary.

However, there will be many other attractions to discover: the technical side of beekeeping will be uncovered in a half-hour talk from 1.30pm with demonstrations of beekeeping equipment and how to make it from 2pm.

A “bee dance” will also be choreographed by an intrepid beekeeper and children should take their teddies for a picnic and readings of AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, a bear who some would say was the ultimate honey connoisseur.

Beeswax candle making will also be on display and the afternoon will be a chance for people to take a walk around the ground and see how the charity has transformed the five-acre space which used to be Woodcroft sports ground, between Broad Walk and Woodland Way, Winchmore Hill, over the past seven months.

The charity plans to create nature trails through managed woodland, wetland and meadow areas on what was once flood-prone disused land.

Honey will be for sale but Woodcroft Wildspace honey will not be available until next year.

The event, from 12pm to 4pm, costs £2 for adults and is free for children.