We had our first working bee at our little farm on the weekend. I invited a few colleagues along for a 'flora and fauna ID party' to start a species list for the property.

After a few hours we had a list of over 100 plant species.

Although I'm a plant ecologist, my plant identification skills are pretty rusty so it would have taken me weeks to get this list.

I’m going to embrace working bees on our little farm.

I love that working bees:

• provide a great excuse to hang out with friends;
• can make a not-very-fun task enjoyable;
• make tasks that we otherwise couldn’t do possible, because the collective skill pool of our friends is much larger than that of Daddy Eco and I alone;
• and they provide an opportunity to learn from friends.

Have you hosted a working bee? Or do you enjoy attending working bees? Have you got any advice for me on what makes a working bee successful? I'm guessing providing good food and drink is pretty important?