Mayor launches ‘Capital Bee’ campaign to boost bee numbers in London
Competition launched to offer 50 hives plus training to community groups
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today created a 'biodiversity buzz' by launching a practical campaign to boost community bee keeping, in response to the dangerous decline in bee populations.
‘Capital Bee’, part of the Capital Growth scheme supported by the Mayor, is offering up to 50 community food growing groups an exciting opportunity to receive a bee hive, basic equipment, a bee colony and training. Entries from groups requesting the package are welcome from today and will need to demonstrate a strong commitment to maintaining the bee hive responsibly. The training for winning recipients will start in spring next year with hives expected to be up and running by spring 2012.
Bees are a vital part of the ecosystem, pollinating food crops and plant feed for livestock. Whilst bees may be thought of as more suited for rural environments, cities are equally in need of healthy bee populations and are actually well positioned to play an important role in helping to boost bee numbers. This is due to the diverse range of native and exotic plants, a more controlled use of agricultural chemicals and a longer foraging season due to fewer frosts.
Defra figures show that the UK's honeybee hives contribute around £200m a year to the economy, yet only one in six pots of honey consumed in the country is produced here. Capital Bee is therefore also set to investigate the enterprise opportunities that bee keeping can offer London, such as locally produced honey and hives, beeswax products and the provision of training.
The Mayor Boris Johnson, said: ‘Bees and the skilled art of bee keeping have been an essential feature of city life for millennia. This is due simply to the fact that the humble bee is vital for food production, helping green spaces to thrive and acting as a reliable ecological barometer for the health of our natural environment.
'As a logical next step to our initiative to create community food gardens and beautify neglected parts of London, we are taking practical steps to create a 'buzz' around urban bees. Capital Bee is also set to investigate new enterprise opportunities such as those coming from the production of delicious, locally cultivated London honey.’
Capital Bee today also hosted a bee summit featuring a range of expert speakers, sponsored by the Co-operative membership as part of their Plan Bee campaign, at London's Royal Festival Hall. The aim was to contribute to wider debate about the cause of bee decline in urban settings as well as share ideas for how Londoners can help.
Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food, said: ‘A declining bee population has potentially catastrophic consequences for human life as we know it. With more and more people living in cities, it is important we seek to learn more about urban bee decline and how we can reverse this worrying trend. Our bee keeping competition offers Londoners a response to this problem, whilst we have also bought together experts to help explore the additional solutions. But anyone can help the cause of bees whether by planting bee-friendly plants or simply learning to appreciate them as a friend not a foe.'
Environment Minister Lord Henley, said: 'Bees are essential to putting food on our tables and worth £200m to Britain every year through pollinating our crops.
‘It is fantastic that so many people are taking up city beekeeping and the Government is committed to teaching them the skills needed to keep their hives healthy and bees buzzing.’
Pamela Brunton from charity Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, who are managing the campaign for the Mayor, said: 'Bees are good for London and London is good for bees. By helping the honey bee out of this sticky spot Londoners can make a difference for all of the city's wildlife, can help improve the gardens and green spaces we depend on, and can bring a whole range of educational and enterprise opportunities to communities in London.'
It is not clear why bee populations around the world are collapsing but over-use of pesticides, the spread of bee diseases, a changing climate and increased mono-cropping on farms are believed to play a part.
Capital Bee is part of Capital Growth, a partnership initiative between London Food Link, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund. It aims to boost community food growing, creating 2,012 new food growing spaces by the end of 2012. There are over 700 plots already up and running in a diverse range of places, such as schools, by railways, on housing estates and on roofs.
Capital Bee was launched at the bee hives on the roof of the Tate Modern with the assistance of their bee-keeper, Steve Benbow from the London Honey Company.
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Notes to editors:
For competition and application details to become a Capital Bee community space, visit: http://www.capitalbee.org/
2. The competition is open for entries from today (16 December) until 28 January 2011. Winners will be notified by Friday 18 February following a site visit.
3. Entries will be asked to for minimum requirements consisting a reference, a brand new or current food space created after January 2009, the involvement of at least five people.
4. Winners will receive a beehive, the protective clothing, basic tools, training, mentoring and support.
5. The Capital Bee summit will feature a range of experts and urban bee keepers and honey producers, including:
· Prof Opi Outhwaite of Greenwich University - honey bee health; Andy Wattam, Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) - DEFRA’s bee health research and the FERA Bee Unit; Nick Mole of PAN UK - the role of pesticides in bee decline; Nick Fraser, National Trust - chemical-free park management; Tim Lovett of the British Beekeepers Association – Responsibility and the need for training Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food.
1 Tim Baker, headteacher of Charlton Manor Primary School (Greenwich), will also speak about how his school's successful food garden has incorporated a glass-fronted observation bee hive. Pupils regularly don child-sized bee suits and help with the weekly checks as well as enjoying the taste of Charlton Manor honey.
2 Representatives of Bungay Community Bees; the London Honey Company; Buglife – an invertebrate conservation trust; the Natural Beekeeping Trust; and the London Beekeepers Association will also be giving presentations.
6. Honey bee pollution is responsible for the growth of all fruits and many vegetables as well as livestock feed, even cotton for fabrics. The loss of bees in some countries, hand pollination has become a common practice to preserve continued food production.
7. 2010 is the United Nation's Year of Biodiversity.
There are six species of bumble bee common to London with many more species of solitary bees.
9. The Healthy Bees Plan is a 10-year strategy to protect and improve the health of honeybees in England and Wales. To help it start up, Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government provided £2.8million to fund it to 2011.
10. In June, £10m of funding was awarded for research projects in the Insect Pollinators Initiative. This included a £2.5m contribution from Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government.
11. London is covered by a regional inspector and three local inspectors.
12. In October Defra announced support for the BBKA to increase the number of quality trainers for beekeepers across England and Wales. This is to teach amateur beekeepers the skills needed to care for their bees and to guard against pests and diseases.
13. New beekeepers are advised to get some training, join their local association for mentoring, and register on the BeeBase network.
