Honey in the Making

By Chief Bee Keeper, John Beavan

Paradise Birmingham welcomed 160,000 new occupants last year – in the shape of its own bee colony – and has seen more bee activity over this summer.

The thousands of bees were a first for Paradise and happily occupy two hives located close to the site hoarding at the corner of Congreve Street and Great Charles Street.

The bee’s first year has witnessed huge progress being made at Paradise, with demolition and preparation work taking place nearby for the 49 storey Octagon residential tower. But bees are very resilient creatures, and changes to buildings in and around their home environment poses little problem to them.

The bees normally fly within one mile of their Paradise home, and tend not to hang around the public areas of the development in large numbers, so those who are nervous of insects need not fear any noticeable increase in bee activity.

The bees were installed in 2021 as part of an ecology-led initiative to bring more wildlife to the development and encourage a greater diversity of insects in this part of the city centre.

As well as being home to our own bees, the hives are now producing our own Paradise honey which we have been collecting for the first time this year.

As well as the 80,000 worker bees, the two hives will each have their own Queen bee who relies on the worker bees to bring her food and water and see to all her needs. But while the Queen tends to stay put in the hive for her entire lifespan, the workers can fly in a three mile radius, foraging and collecting nectar that gets condensed into honey.

Without bees and their ability to pollinate plants, including the crops, fruit and vegetables we all need for our food, it would cost the agricultural sector in the UK alone £2 billion a year to pollinate plants artificially.

Worker bees rightly have an awesome reputation for hard work.

The bees in the Paradise colony will collectively fly the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back every day. Their top speed is 20mph and they have the navigational prowess of much larger animals thanks to their ability to sense the position of the sun even on a cloudy or rainy day, and their sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field.

Caroline Rudge, MEPC Commercial Manager said:

“By playing our small part – just like the industrious worker bee – we contribute to something larger and more impactful than if we work alone.”

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