Eisteddfod

Science and technology pavilion at the National Eisteddfod of Wales

4 August 2014

Professor Arwyn Jones organised a large science exhibition in the Science and Technology Pavilion at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Llanelli.

He teamed up with Aberystwyth, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan and Bangor Universities, the International Bee Keepers Association and the National Botanic Garden of Wales to raise awareness of the importance of pollination in conservation, agriculture and medical sciences.

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences exhibit was staffed by Arwyn and a team of junior scientists including pharmacy undergraduate students.

The exhibit focused on the science of honey and the detective work underway at Professor Les Baillie’s laboratory to identify antibacterial properties of honey collected from different parts of Wales.

Over the course of the Eisteddfod week 25 samples of Welsh honey were handed in for Arwyn to take to the School for analysis.

The young children visiting the pavilion loved making bees out of clay. Also very popular was the opportunity for children and adults to extract pollen from Welsh honey and see amazing pollen shapes under the microscope

Dr Wheldon-Williams from the National Eisteddfod said ‘This was the first time that so many Universities in Wales have got together under one roof to address a common issue, it was a fantastic achievement and a great project’.

Over the course of eight days 18,000+ people attended the Science and Technology Pavilion to engage and interact with science and the scientists doing the work.