Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/972198
maltatoday SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2018 39 This Week We have hundreds of moth species. But we hardly notice this because, contrary to their gaudy day-loving cousins the butterflies, moths are largely drab in colour and fly by night. One moth that breaks the night-shift rule is the vapourer. The male is often on the wing at this time of year, fluttering about incessantly (hence its Maltese name: l-imferfex!) in search for females. As it doesn't land much, we miss its rich-brown patterned upperwings and orange underwing. The ladies' lot is very different: they are flightless, (feminists stop reading here) they stay in their woolly pupa, get fertilised in their pupa, die in their pupa and the caterpillars (faint-hearted stop reading here) burst out of their dead mother's body! Move aside James Cameron and Alien The Movie, this is nature at its gruesome best! Occasionally we receive comments from concerned members of the vegan community about our support and encouragement of local apiculture. We would like to take this opportunity to clear up some misunderstandings about bees and beekeeping, such as that through supporting local apiculture we are "stealing the bees' honey", or that the beekeepers we support are feeding them sugar syrup to be able to extract more honey. Our campaign is designed to raise awareness on the importance of honey bees, and how they play a vital role in the ecosystem. We are mainly supporting natural beekeeping and small-scale local apiculture. The bees in the hives are provided with wax foundation, which reduces their need to produce comb from scratch. The honey we harvest is surplus honey; the beekeeper will always make sure there is enough for the colony to survive and we do not feed the bees sugar syrup in order to extract more honey. Supplement feeding with sugar is however sometimes done to support the bees during times when limited nectar is available. The scope of our work is not honey extraction, but to increase the number of bee colonies. 606. VAPOURER Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 509: Find out more: www.foemalta.org/beecause Text and photo Victor Falzon The Buzz about bees (continued) Msida Baston annual spring fair Charles Flores's memoirs in Waqtiet Kalkarizi DIN l-Art Helwa is pleased to an- nounce that the Msida Bastion Historic Garden in Floriana will once more be holding its Annual Spring Fair 2018 on Sunday 29 April between 10am and 3pm. This fun-packed event is perfect for a family day out when the public can enjoy this most pic- turesque site that overlooks Mar- sametto Harbour. The Garden was voted by the National Geo- graphic Intelligent Travel blog as one of the most beautiful histori- cal cemetries in Europe. Everyone is invited to join this fun packed event, suitable for all the family, enjoying the views which this Garden offers. The Historical Re-enactment Group Malta will be present wearing their Napoleonic period military costumes. Flowers, plants, cakes, books and many other items will be on sale during the day. For our younger visitors, we will be providing activities such as face painting, bouncing castle, candy floss, popcorn and also sand- wiches, hotdogs and hamburgers. Along with all this, there will be a raffle with rich gifts, a treasure hunt, tombola, and a painting exhibition in oil pastels, charcoal, ink, watercolour and acrylics by artist Ian Camilleri. Entrance fee for adults is of €2 and children under 12 years, enter free of charge. This is a fund rais- ing activity and all funds collected will be dedicated to the upkeep of this unique place. The Msida Bas- tion Garden is best found by turn- ing left at Great Siege Road and then taking the second fork left beyond the Public Library. From Saturday 28 April between 10am and 12pm and on Sunday 29 April between 10am and 2pm during the Msida Bastion Spring Fair, artist and Din l-Art Helwa Council Member will be exhibit- ing a range of his art works in oil pastels, charcoal, watercolours, ink, and acrylics at the Msida Bas- tion Garden. Part of the proceeds from sales will be dedicated to the upkeep of the Garden. THE generational cy- cle forms an integral part in the ongoing weaving of the history of a country, city, vil- lage and nation. The social and economic process that occurs during the shift of generations adds spice to the stories of that mass of individu- als who make up a na- tion. In this small collec- tion of fleeting mem- oirs, Charles Flores spotlights the post- war generation that has left its mark on the modern history pages of most European countries, not least Malta, with an accent on the epoch-making events of the Sixties. It all started at village and town levels, in the author's case the tranquil village of Kalkara that sits serenely in the shadow of the Three Cities. Suburban Kalkara is where Flo- res lived his entire childhood and teenage years. In his typical, fast-forward style that reveals the journalist/raconteur in him, he presents a series of written wa- ter-colour vignettes that feature personal stories and anecdotes (such as that of Roger Moore and the Fort Rinella cannon and the day a dophin gave a dancing dis- play), related to the story of his home village, the nearby Three Cities and Malta. He visits old, make-shift football pitches, and recalls pastimes, tradi- tions, celebrations and activities that children and young men and women of his generation took part in before the advent of the elec- tronic age with its computers and In- ternet. " W a q t i e t Kalkariżi – għad- dell tal-Kottonera" (BDL) makes for easy, pleasant read- ing, but is still a source of valuable information for the student, the teacher, the researcher and historian who are always in search of more sto- ries for their continuing study of the Malta that we once knew – and lost. The book is available at all leading bookshops, the Kalkara local coun- cil, and on-line from the publish- ers – https://www.bdlbooks.com/ history/6711-waqtiet-kalkarizi.html Cultural Policy Designers unite in new European network INDEPENDENT cultural policy designers, known in the field for their policy work across Europe and beyond, have launched a new network. The eight founders of the Cultural Policy Designers Network (CPDN) have joined forces to pro- vide alternative and independent partnerships that draw on interna- tional expertise for advice, strategic planning and project implemen- tation in the arts, culture and the creative economy. The founders of CPDN are Toni Attard (Malta), Fanny Bouquerel (France), Cristina Farinha (Portu- gal), Tom Fleming (UK), Philippe Kern (Belgium), Petya Koleva (Bul- garia), Luka Piskoric (Slovenia) and Ragnar Siil (Estonia). As the first European network for professional cultural policy experts operating from within the non-gov- ernmental sector, CPDN will serve as a platform for its members to develop partnerships with national, regional, European and interna- tional institutions. The network wants to operate as a truly European force providing ex- pertise in the cultural fields to serve the European project in its social, economic and diplomatic dimen- sion. The Cultural Policy Designers Network intends to be a knowl- edge-based independent partner, free from any political affiliations or lobby groups. CPDN has also launched a mem- bership call for interested individu- als who wish to join the network. In the coming months CPDN will also start connecting with other net- works and organisations interested in exploring new and alternative solutions to challenges in cultural development through a collabora- tive pan-European approach. For further information visit www. culturaldesigners.eu