Now that summer’s well under way it seems a good time to tell you about our latest corporate social responsibility initiative.
In addition to planting trees via our green hosting service (now 70 trees and counting!) we’re proud to announce that we’ve moved onto helping the bees!
Why are bees important?
These furry little guys are under threat from climate change, disease and loss of habitat due to widespread use of pesticides. They are important because they prop up our ecosystem, pollinating wild trees and plants and supporting nature’s food chain. Without them, we would not be able to produce much of the food that we eat.
How are we helping the bees?
Since the spring we’ve been sponsoring a beehive via SW Honey Farms, a family firm that runs apiaries across West Sussex. Our adopted hive is home to around 80,000 bees at peak time – that’s a lot of honey production! That’s also a lot pollinators going to work around their patch of the South Downs which is great for the wider ecosystem.
Below are some photos of our own hive and bees (and of course the resulting jars of honey). We thought about naming each one – Beatrice, Beasley, Bianca… you get the idea – but we’ve run out of names already! Suggestions welcome. The next time you see a bee in West Sussex or Hampshire say hi, it could be one of ours!
How to get involved and help the environment
If you’re interested in doing the same we heartily recommend it. Get in touch with the farm directly or ask us questions. Or, if you can’t adopt a hive, see what you can do to help the bees in your own garden by providing flowers for nectar, keeping wild areas (research “rewilding”) and avoiding the use of harmful pesticides. It’s easy and it all helps!
