19 August 2011

See you in court

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14586359

London offices offered bee hives to 'boost work morale'

Staff with bee hives on the terrace of Olswang Law firm Olswang is hosting two bee hives
Businesses in central London are being offered free bee hives to see if they will enhance office morale.
InMidtown, a group representing firms in Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles, said it has offered hives to 560 businesses in a pilot scheme.
The scheme hopes hosting apiaries will aid team building in firms and add to the urban food production.
Five businesses who have signed up are hosting 40,000 bees in eight hives on their roofs and terraces.
Employees of the host businesses will be trained to assist professional beekeepers to care for the hives and harvest honey.
Dr Susan Parham, head of urbanism at the University of Hertfordshire, will monitor the impact of hosting hives in a working environment.
Bee-friendly flowers Law firm Olswang has signed up to the project and has a bee hive on its roof and another on a terrace in Holborn. It said the bees were a "very docile" variety.
"It just seemed like a great project and staff absolutely love it," said Sam Hudson, corporate responsibility executive at the firm.
Bee hives on the terrace of Olswang Up to 560 firms are being offered free bee hives
Once a week 20 staff members don bee suits to check on the hives with a professional, and the firm hopes to harvest its first batch of honey this autumn.
"We are going to sell it off to our staff and raise money for our charity partner Coram. Hopefully give some to our clients as well," Ms Hudson said.
Tass Mavrogordato, chief executive of InMidtown, said the pilot scheme aimed to tap into the business benefits of hosting apiaries.
She said: "To ensure there is enough food from the off we've been filling five bike-lock planters with bee-friendly flowers since last autumn, with a further 20 planters installed along with the new hives."

1 comment:

lucysummers said...

Sounds like a great idea to me. Bees are nice little fellas, very relaxing in their own , pollen dusty industrious fashion. I've got a Bee in My Bonnet campaign running, to help boost our declining bee population, so I think anything that creates a positive focus on bees, even in office, can't be a bad thing. Love Lucy x