Bentley Celebrates World Bee Day by Installing Seven Beehives, Aims for a Record Harvest

Yes, you read that right; Bentley has an Excellence Center for bees – who would've thought? Apparently, there's a trend among automakers to care for bees. For instance, Porsche houses bees at its off-road site in Leipzig, Rolls-Royce also makes honey, and many other brands carry out bee-related activities with a common purpose: preserve the environment.

We must protect bees at all costs: they're a part of biodiversity on which we all depend to survive. They pollinate flowers, which helps plants reproduce. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, pollinators like bees and butterflies help pollinate around 75% of the world's flowering plants and roughly 35% of the world's food crops. Long story short, life without bees would be very complicated, if not impossible.

Bentley is working on making its Crewe campus more environmentally friendly as part of the Beyond 100 strategy. The company aims to become end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030 and make its Crewe operation climate positive. Moreover, the "#GoToZero" plan involves a series of activities focusing on climate change and sustainability, including the "Bentley Bees" project.

The UK-based marque started its bee-keeping operations by teaming up with Buckley Bees in May 2019 with 120,000 indigenous bees. In the meanwhile, the number has grown to more than half a million, and the bees have produced over 2,000 jars of honey.

This year, Bentley is installing seven new hives, bringing the total number to seventeen. The company said that the colony would grow to more than one million bees this year and hopes to reach a new record regarding the honey harvest. The best one was in 2022 when the bees produced over 1,000 jars of honey.

There are also other initiatives to improve site sustainability at the Crewe campus, where the company employs around 4,000 people. Last year, Bentley planted 100 trees around the factory grounds and 5,000 bulbs of daffodils across the campus. Furthermore, Bentley colleagues installed handmade bird and bat boxes and hedgehog highways. Not only do these initiatives support local wildlife, but they also create awareness for Bentley employees regarding the importance of preserving green spaces.

But how can you do your fair share of helping the bees out? Plant some bee-friendly flowers or let your garden get a bit messy, as bees love most wildflowers, which we can sometimes consider "weeds." What's more, try to avoid using pesticides in your garden. You could also only purchase locally produced honey – it will be way tastier than commercial brands, and you support the local industry, which in turn can further grow and improve the area's biodiversity.