BEFORE YOU GO
RETAIL RANDOMS
F L E S R U O Y E IV H BEE Bees are quite clever. Despite having brains the size of a grass seed, they communicate with each other by dancing and they can count. And they’re the bee’s knees at making honey. So how then, did a swarm get Hinckley in Leicestershire buzzing with excitement last week by setting up camp in the market town’s Aldi? One explanation is that they mistook the store for the discounter’s bee hotel, which sits eight miles away along the A5 in Atherstone. In 2014, Aldi staff voted to build a bee hotel at the company’s head office in recognition of their crucial role in the world’s ecosystems. Or maybe they were just excited by the prospect of their bosses getting stung on a daily basis. At any rate, the Hinckley bees (not be confused with the Hinkley Point B
power station) were eventually safely removed to a new home by a local beekeeper. This was not without some drama though. According to beekeeper Pete, his technician made the scene safe and nipped off for some honey to keep the bees healthy. Unfortunately, when he
returned to collect them, a new manager was on shift who allegedly called the police to stop him because the bees were Aldi’s property. Unlike bees, it looks like the two managers didn’t communicate with each other. But they may well have very small brains.
ET L L A B L A Y O R Y JERSE Fresh potato brand Albert Bartlett has unveiled a new video showcasing the lifespan of the humble potato, with the laudable aim of encouraging people to think twice before chucking spuds in the bin. Shot over 12 months, the strangely hypnotic short film has been assembled from a series of stills and sped-up video footage and takes the viewer on an educational journey from seed to fork.
It represents a step-change from some of the brand’s other videos, which are – quite frankly – bonkers. Take, for example, one film which saw Reece Clarke and Fumi Kaneko, two dancers from the Royal Ballet, perform sections of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ in Albert Bartlett’s Jersey factory. Why you ask? Because the factory is full of Jersey Royal seed potatoes that are going to ‘sleep’ for a couple of
months before being ‘woken up’ again prior to planting. Obviously.
WEDNESDAY 11TH MAY 2022 / ISSUE 104 / SLRMAG.CO.UK I 41
