Tuesday 7th April 2020
We know how important pollinators are for farmers, in fact they’re an integral part of growing food for people and for cows. We’ve had hives in the valley for a while now and our bees are very much seen as VIPs on the farm!
We love our bees so much that we want to share the love, so we’ve decided to partner up with Buckley’s Bees to build and manage 10 new beehives and colonies across a number of British organic dairy farms. A father and daughter team based in Cheshire, Buckley’s Bees Beekeepers are registered BBKA members and have been breeding and caring for British Bees for over 50 years, so we know they share our passion for all things bee!
With reductions in wildflower meadows and increased urbanisation, there are now just 270,000 active hives in the UK compared with around 1,000,000 hives in 1900! Over the next two years we hope to provide homes for hundreds of thousands of new British honey bees.
Our partnership with Buckley’s Bees will mean that these hives and bee colonies are looked after and managed throughout the year according to the BBKA and Defra standards, with regular inspections to check on their homes and manage the colony for honey production. One day we may even be able to use some of the honey they produce in our products!
Currently our queen bees are building their colonies and are being looked after by Emma at Buckley’s Bees in their designated apiary in Cheshire. They will be moved to 10 hives across 5 organic dairy farms in the UK as soon as travel restrictions are lifted – homing thousands of new bees over the next year!
Over the coming months, we’ll be updating you with news of our colonies so you can meet our new bees and find out more about the amazing work they do on the farm!
Really great way to educate people and to keep the bees alive in the community of these farms. They are so important to our wildlife and as pollinators to our eco system as well. Well done all, this is a great idea. Would love to come and visit your farm someday….maybe will get around to it, who knows..keep up the good work!
Just brilliant. It’s the work of companies and individuals like this that give hope for the future of our natural world.
Congratulations on your wonderful work. Bees need all the help they can get and we need them too.
Keep up the excellent work. All farm’s should take their example from Yeo Valley and the world would be a better place
brilliant news for the bees
Bees so important, planted a lilac budlia last summer, 6 varieties of butterflies visited but also Honey, Miner, Leaf cutter bees and Bumblebee s. Magical 🐝
Bee👍👍👍
I have made a bee hive too because I’m also helping the bee population
One of the most important creatures on earth which lots of people dont realise. Good on you YEO VALLEY.
Great news about the bees.
We all need to. Do our bit to reestablish these excellent practices, which have slipped off the “normal”everyday occupations..