Barnes Webb Two Guys Behind Londons Rental Beehives
Chris Barnes and Paul Webb are the creative minds behind the London Based bee rental business, Barnes & Webb. In 2012, after an inspiring trip to New Zealand the duo established the business, which installs and maintains urban beehives across the city of London.
For a monthly fee, their customers receive a share of the honey collected at the end of the season and the rest is sold under the label of London Postcode Honey to local delis and shops.
Every hive or postcode produces different flavours; one district may be dark and have a rich treacle flavour while the other might be light and floral on the tastebuds.
Seeing the amount of effort that is required for bees to produce honey from removing the nectar of flowers to building the cells in the hive, Chris and Paul have gained a huge appreciation for each little jar of honey saying ‘it’s worth its weight in gold’.
Paul says there is an increasing number of people desiring integratory in the food that their eating and buying. The success of their product is greatly to do with the fact that their honey is harvested by hand and simply filtered before being labelled and sold within the local community. No doubt providing hive renters the sense of ownership and feeling that they’re helping nurture the bee populations also drives the success of their business.
According to Chris and Paul, nothing beats taking a sneaky finger full of honey from a frame you’ve just pulled out from a hive!
To find out more about the story of Barnes & Webb, watch this great video produced by Grow Eat Gather.
Photos borrowed from Grow Eat Gather.
