BURT’S BEES GET WILD FOR BEES AT THE CALTHORPE PROJECT
BURT’S BEES have launched WILD FOR BEES at the Calthorpe Project – a community garden oasis in the heart of London.
Hearing the news of the declining bee population is seriously worrying, there was a 70% reduction in honey productions across the UK alone last year, this is an alarming amount considering one third of the most delicious and nutritious foods on earth wouldn’t exist without bees!
From this July, Burt’s Bees launch ‘Wild For Bees’ – kick started with an exclusive cinema event on 3rd July in a community garden in the heart of London to highlight the plight of the Honey Bee. Showcasing a wonderful series of films starring Isabella Rossellini the campaign is supported by The British Beekeepers Association and The Guerrilla Gardener who will be on hand to give tips on how you can help the Bee’s.
Burt’s Bees began with the humble Honey Bee over 25 years ago. Beekeeper, Burt Shavitz met artist Roxanne Quimby when she was hitchhiking in Maine, USA. Roxanne became intrigued by his story of honey bees and together they created a booming candle business that over time became a leading global natural personal care brand. Pioneering a new approach to beauty, Burt and Roxanne started making beauty products from natural ingredients that harness the outstanding power of bees. From the firstbeeswax lip balm to award–winning skin care made with Royal Jelly, the exclusive diet of the Queen Bee, Burt’s Bees provides a complete range of face and body care products made from natural ingredients that not only give you highly effective results, but they are kind to your skin and to the environment. Being good to you and to the planet is what Burt’s Bees is all about. Burt’s Bees has proudly sponsored BBKA Adopt a Beehive, since 2010.
The event was hosted by Lucy Siegle, journalist and TV presenter, the event featured a buzzing talk and Q&A with Margaret McHugh, Burt’s Bees Marketing Manager; Tim Lovett, The British Bee Keepers Association’s Director of Public Affairs; and Richard Reynolds The Guerrilla Gardener. Showcasing BURT TALKS TO THE BEES, guests were treated to a wonderfully fantastical and wildly educational series of three short films created by Isabella Rossellini, actor, director and uncanny Burt impersonator…
Meeting the bees–the queen, the workers and the drones–we can all become familiar and sympathetic to their plight. Rossellini’s uncanny ability to combine scientific accuracy with storytelling creates a zany, lighthearted approach to environmentalism that piques viewers’ curiosity just enough to care about a disappearing bug.
It turns out Bees do more than most people realise–for such small, short-lived creatures, they do a lot of heavy lifting to keep life on Earth in balance. In fact, one third of the most delicious and nutritious foods on Earth simply wouldn’t exist without bees. Because they are instrumental to biodiversity, they are what scientists call indicator species, so they function as a buzzing alarm system for the health of our planet’s ecosystem.
And the alarm is sounding. In the UK, honey bee colony losses are the worst since The British Beekeepers Association’s winter loss survey began, with a third of all honey bee colonies lost over the winter of 2012/2013 – more than double the losses of the previous year. There was also a 70% reduction in the amount of honey produced across the UK last year, the worst affected area being London with a 78% reduction!* Bees and honey bees in particular are facing a number of challenges–loss of habitat, pollution, exposure to chemicals, disease, parasites, poor nutrition, even changes in climate.
Nearly every scientist agrees that all bees need nesting habitats and a variety of healthy flower food to thrive–and they’re in short supply. Humans have used up all the land–we’ve planted crops from field edge to edge, lawns from yard to yard (no bee food there), and fancy ornamental plants where once scruffy natives used to stand. In most agricultural settings today, bees find only one kind of food for days and weeks on end. Not only boring, but not very healthy.
Burt Shavitz, co-founder of BURT’S BEES was a beekeeper. His bees made the wax in their first Beeswax Lip Balm, so bees aren’t just in the name they’re part of our history, our culture and our collective future. If bees are in trouble, we need to listen and act, and that’s why Burt’s Bees is collaborating with bee experts at the British Beekeepers Association, the Guerilla Gardener and artists to get people to care about bees.
BURT’S BEES has launched a digital program to provide all the information and tools people need to do their part for the bees–including planting a virtual flower to create virtual bee happiness (whilst donating £1 to the BBKA) and planting a packet of wild flower seeds, free with every online order in July–September (subject to availability) Burt’s Bees Plant a Flower App. If each one of us invites bees into our space by planting even a patch of bee food, together we can create a veritable bee sanctuary–and a more sustainable future for all.
To get Wild For Bees go to www.burtsbees.co.uk
Burt’s Bees is available from www.burtsbees.co.uk. Follow Burt’s Bees on Twitter: @BurtsBeesUK Like Burt’s Bees on Facebook: Burt’s Bees UK
BBKA/ADOPT A BEEHIVE
www.bbka.org.uk
“Help to save honey bees, Adopt a Beehive”
The BBKA is a charity for beekeepers and their supporters. There are virtually no wild honey bees left in the UK so beekeepers are the guardians of these hardworking little creatures. Adopt a Beehive is the BBKA’s fund raising project and the only scheme in the UK which raises money and awareness specifically for the honey bee. All Adopt profits go towards applied research and education projects to help save the honey bee. For more information on the BBKA, visit www.bbka.org.uk. The Adopt A Beehive Pack is £30.00 (not including P&P) from www.burtsbees.co.uk and www.adoptabeehive.co.uk
THE GUERRILLA GARDENER
www.guerrillagardening.org
The original “guerrilla gardener”, Richard Reynolds is based in a tower block in London’s benighted Elephant and Castle, he has built up a substantial international following over the past decade. His night-time escapades, “illegally” gardening derelict and unloved segments of cities around the world have proved an inspiration to a new generation of gardeners.
THE CALTHORPE PROJECT
www.calthorpeproject.org.uk
The Calthorpe Project opened in 1984 after a successful campaign against an office development on a one–acre site in the heart of King’s Cross. The site is now leased from Camden Council and provides a number of services available to the community. The Calthorpe Project’s mission is to provide “An inner city oasis: a community garden and centre where people grow and learn together taking care of each other and the environment.’’
The garden provides a space for different ages, cultures and abilities to enjoy recreational facilities together, taking care of each other and the environment. The organisation’s core activities attract approximately 1500 service users each year and at least 50 regular volunteers and many more garden visitors.
