Every Bee Good purchase helps increase the number of British bees.
It's a well known fact that many bees are in trouble. If all the bees die it's estimated that the human race will almost certainly die with them. This is a pretty scary fact. Bees and other key insects pollinate 70% of the fruit and vegetables we eat as well as key grazing plants for farm animals. The use of pesticides and the removal of native meadows and forests have all pushed our wild bee populations close to breaking point.
Our mission at Bee Good is to support initiatives that educate and encourage people to do everything they can to help the bees not just survive but to thrive. We use honey, propolis and beeswax from our own hives and from our network of bee farmers to help sustain their business's and care for their bees. We use bee-friendly crops and wild flower extracts to encourage the production of much needed food sources and forage for the bees. We send out wild flower seed balls with all our orders to help our customers plant bee-friendly wild flowers. We also sponsor apprentice bee farmers and Simon our founder writes articles and lectures on bee keeping all over the UK.
The UK's Native Bees
Here in the UK we have around 270 species of bees, just under 250 of which are solitary bees. These are incredibly efficient pollinators that are critical to the success of many key food crops. In addition, we have around 20 species of Bumblebees some of which are specialist feeders dependant on a small range of native wildflowers as their main food source. The European Honeybee is the only bee native to the UK that lives in large colonies of about and produces the harvestable honey, beeswax and propolis used in the Bee Good product range.
Whilst wild Honeybee colonies are relatively rare due to lack of habitat, their numbers in the UK are being helped by the growing number amateur bee keepers supplemented by around about 300 professional bee farmers some of which also supply Bee Good.
Since 1900, the UK has lost 13 species of solitary and bumblebees, and a further 35 are considered under threat of extinction. Across Europe nearly 1 in 10 wild bee species face extinction. The main reasons for the decline of our bees are a combination of industrial agriculture, parasites/pathogens and climate change. The loss of biodiversity, destruction of habitat and lack of forage due to monocultures and bee-killing pesticides are particular threats for bees and other wild pollinators.
The Bee Good Apiary
Our founders, Simon & Caroline have been active beekeepers for many years before starting Bee Good and still keep a number of hives in and around their home in Hampshire. The Bee Good apiary is located within a 12 acre Victorian apple orchard, surrounded by hedgerows and fields. Simon regular writes articles for the Bee Good Blog so you can follow the progress of our bees through the seasons.
Planting Wild Flower Meadows
Every Bee Good order is dispatched with wildflower seed balls. These enable our customers to plant and make their own bee-friendly mini-meadows. We have distributed almost 2 million wildflower seeds since 2014. We also sponsor small areas of wild meadow planting with private landowners and social groups, local authorities and parks.
