The Co-operative to create an army of urban beekeepers

01 March 2010

An army of new urban beekeepers supported by The Co-operative

As part of its on-going Plan Bee campaign

More and more city dwellers are taking up beekeeping since the plight of the British honeybee population, which experts believe halved in England between 1985 and 2005, was publicised. Last year, The Co-operative piloted an urban apiary and beekeeping courses in Manchester parkland using a revolutionary lightweight plastic beehive. Now it is planning to roll out the idea to other inner city areas in London, Manchester and Inverness.

In addition to the new hives this will lead to, The Co-operative Farms also has 600 hives on its farmland.

Launched in January 2009, the £475,000 Plan Bee campaign aims to raise awareness of honeybee decline, fund research, and encourage people to help bees and plant bee-friendly wildflowers.

To date the research programme has sponsored investigations into the mapping of native British black honeybees and the impact of neonicotinoid pesticides in the UK. The initial findings of which are expected in the summer of 2010.

Paul Monaghan, Head of Social Goals at The Co-operative, said: ”Nature’s number one pollinating machine appears to be breaking down and no one knows for sure why. Urban beekeeping is becoming increasingly popular and could be a vital tool in the reverse of honeybee decline in the UK.

“Through our urban beekeeper projects we want to show people that you don’t have to have acres of land to take up beekeeping.”

Notes to editors:

Plan Bee is a ten-point plan to help reverse the decline of the UK bee population:

  1. The Co-operative will continue to engage its five million members to raise awareness about honeybees and their recent decline.
  2. A further £160,000 has been made available to support research into the demise of the honeybee including research into the effects of pesticides on the development of infant bees and an expansion the native bee mapping project to including rearing native queen bees to increase the number of native colonies in the UK. This is in addition to the £150,000 committed to research in 2009.
  3. The Co-operative Food will continue with its temporarily prohibition on the use of neonicotinoid-based pesticides on own-brand fresh and frozen produce, which was introduced in 2009.
  4. The Co-operative Farms is in the second year of a three year trial to develop a wildflower seed mix that will be planted alongside crops on our farms.
  5. The Co-operative will continue to support its members and customers to become bee-friendly gardeners, with advice and tips, through the Plan Bee campaign.
  6. In 2009, The Co-operative gave away over 300,000 packets of wild flower seeds to Co-operative members and customers. Hundreds of thousands more packets will be given away in 2010.
  7. The Co-operative will continue to make available discounted bee boxes, which provide shelter for solitary bees.
  8. The Co-operative will continue to support its members to find out more about amateur beekeeping. In 2010 we will have urban beekeeping training projects in Manchester, London and Inverness.
  9. The Co-operative Farms is again inviting beekeepers to establish hives on its farmland.
  10. The Co-operative has produced documentaries on what is happening to bees in the UK and Plan Bee and supported the UK cinema release of ‘Vanishing of the Bees’.