Buckley’s Bees spans 65 years of collective beekeeping experience, born from an absolute passion and an evidence-based belief in the amazing value of the honeybee and the good they do in the world. Father and daughter duo, David, and Emma Buckley, head a team of beekeepers to manage hives on behalf of businesses around the country. Since starting their business last year, Buckley’s Bees have appointed 11 new beekeepers to be a part of their team and spread their skills and wisdom up and down the country.
Founder David Buckley is the eldest surviving member of BIBBA, his experience, knowledge, and inspiration, coupled with daughter Emma’s drive to raise awareness and create new opportunities, is taking the skill of beekeeping to new places and to younger generations. This involves working with communities, schools, and businesses to increase awareness of all pollinators, as well as educating and engaging people to better understand how best to protect and enhance our environment.
Buckley’s Bees prides itself on its bee breeding program, which promotes the sustainable propagation of local bees, in stark contrast to the imported strains the species has encountered in recent history. The benefits of this breeding approach include desirable characteristics and traits, such as docility and hygienic behaviour, with David rarely wearing gloves whilst handling the bees due to their calm nature.
Everything Buckley’s Bees do is done with an advocation for environmental sustainability, not commercial honey production. Buckley’s Bees ensure an ecological balance is always present by overseeing that enough flora is available for both existing and new pollinators, as well as avoiding overpopulation. Did you know that 76% of global crops depend on insect pollination, equating to 1 in 3 mouthfuls of foods, emphasising how important it is to ensure these species stay healthy within our environment!
A huge part of their work is their ‘BEEcause’ campaign, recently launched to help further fight the decline of the bee. Through the campaign and managing their clients’ hives, Buckley’s Bees hope to encourage the sustainable growth of the species and educate others about the importance of maintaining and increasing the number of pollinators in our environment. Buckley’s Bees work with their clients from the very start, ensuring the hives are placed in adequate wildflower meadows, or that these spaces are created beforehand to allow nature and pollinators to grow and thrive.
A shocking journal* recently revealed that the number of bee species reported in the wild has declined globally. The sharpest decrease occurred between 2006-2015 with roughly 25% fewer species spotted, this is alarming because they are vital to the maintenance of a balanced ecosystem. The safety and quality of life of the bees are at the forefront of Buckley’s Bees’ BEEcause mission and to date Buckley’s Bees is proud to have secured support from organisations including Bentley Motors, Yeo Valley, Arla, and Taylor Wimpey, to name a few.
For those looking to help pollinators from their own home, Buckley’s Bees offer a wide range of adoption schemes to support Queen Bees and run various beekeeping courses and experience days to further educate others.
When discussing what people can do to support pollinators, Emma Buckley mentioned:
“Simple actions can really make a difference. If everyone did a little bit to help, there would be a huge improvement in the population of pollinators. For example, if every homeowner and business, who have space, can ensure there is a small area of wildflowers planted – the size of a picnic blanket – we could collectively support millions of pollinating insects each day! For those that don’t have enough space in their garden, incorporating flowers into your window box displays or placing some hanging pots up also helps to build up the population of wildflowers, creating a space for pollinators to thrive’.
“I would like to ask businesses and homeowners not to cut down trees, remove hedges or lay artificial lawns, but instead to create spaces for nature and enjoy the company it provides. By keeping green spaces and gardens as natural as possible, would be hugely beneficial for pollinators. Plantlife confirmed that the average lawn produces 12 grams of nectar sugar per day, enough to support 2.1 million honeybees, just showing how simple it is to help out.”
Discover more here: www.buckleysbees.com
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.