How you can adopt a beehive to protect our honeybee population

Tucked away in a rural village northwest of Stowmarket, local livestock and beekeeping farm Haughley Herdwicks is urging individuals, businesses and charities alike to consider their beehive adoption scheme.

The innovative scheme promotes the significance of honeybee pollination and its impact on the food supply chain and local ecosystem, alongside the complex challenges honeybees face.

In tandem with their social media presence, farmer's markets and small shop, the farm set up the adoption scheme to boost hive numbers and encourage corporations and retailers to engage with biodiversity and wildlife protection.

Bees are undeniably in a state of decline: 35 UK bee species are under threat of extinction, and all species face serious threats.

Pesticides are one of the primary threats to bee numbers, alongside disease, loss of habitat and climate change.

Jacky Parker Photography//Getty Images

A decline diversity and abundance would have a serious impact on how the natural world functions. Bees pollinate much of the food that makes up our diet, from fruit and veg, to the crops we forage to feed the livestock we depend on for meat.

For an annual fee of £300 (including VAT), individuals and businesses can adopt one of Haughley Herdwicks' beehives. The fee is a one-off payment for the entire year, and there is the option to renew before the adoption expires.

Adopters will receive a pack including the below:

A colony of bees installed in a wooden hive at one of the farm's apiary sites, all based in Haughley.
A bespoke plaque with their chosen company logo, affixed on the hive (or hives!).
Digital images of the adopted beehive.
10 12oz jars of Haughley Honey, with the option to purchase more from their adopted hive, and an option for custom company branding for an additional fee. Honey is extracted twice per year, usually around the end of May for the set honey, and again in August for the runny honey.
An A4 digital adoption certificate.
Regular social media updates, including pictures and videos of the branded beehive, across all of Haughley Herdwicks' social media platforms.

Businesses, retailers, corporations and charities then have the option to share the content with their own social media community and promote the positive environmental impact of honeybee pollinators and hive adoptions.

The farm also offer adopters the chance to visit their hive, in small groups by appointment. Visits take place during the beekeeping season which typically runs between May and August.

If you'd like more information, or are interested in adopting a beehive, please email Lewis at haughleyhoney@outlook.com.