Case Studies
. Check out some of the innovative projects we've recently worked on
  • Nomura International PLC  Green Roof
  • City of London Corporation and the City Lord Mayor
  • Chilli honey by Nando's 'Macho bees'
  • St Pauls Way Trust School social Enterprise
  • Our work with the 'Golden Company'
  • Hive Restaurant, Selfridges & Co
  • Our Work With TCES schools special educational needs children
  • London Borough of Tower Hamlets Bees Acton Plan
  • Catalyst Homes biodiverse Housing Estates
 Biodiversity Monitoring and Habitat Enhancements for Pollinators on the Nomura Green Roof

In 2019 in partnership with St Mary's Secret Garden Apicultural took over management of the 11th Floor green roof at Nomura in the City of London.

Nomura's 11th floor green roof is 2500m2 in area and one of the largest bio-solar green roofs in the capital. It was installed in 2011 as Sedum carpet on top of 70mm of substrate. Since installation the roof has matured and been colonised by a wide variety of plants. Together with their 6th Floor intensive terrace gardens and 4th Floor gardens on the roof of the 'pod' Nomuras green roofs are the largest open green space in the borough.

Nomura wanted to understand more about what wildlife uses their roof and manage it more appropriately to benefit biodiversity. As part of our management of the roof we conduct regular monitoring visits to record wildlife on the roof and inform future management.

169 species of flowering plants have been recorded on the roof including very rare Green Winged Orchids and the only known colony of Small Flowered Tongue Orchid found in the UK. 24 species of Bee, Breeding Bee Wolf, 5 species of grass, 3 species of fungi, Ferns, Mosses, Lichens and 17 species of bird inhabit the roof.  This includes Black Redstarts - a nationally rare breeding bird and UK BAP priority species for conservation. 

As part of the management we have built and installed bird nesting boxes, hoverfly breeding ponds, Solitary bee hotels, bee and wasp nesting mounds, insect hibernacula, log piles and enhancements to the roofs planting introducing beneficial wild flowers and insect food plants.

The solitary bee nesting mounds we installed were challenging to construct, we had to move 15 tonnes of soil and aggregates to the 11th floor by hand in hundreds of 25kg sacks.

The plants we planted on the roof were grown by our 'Buzzin' and Golden Futures'  trainees in the St Mary's Secret Garden greenhouse.

We've also conducted moth trapping on the roof which we believe is a world first in trapping and recording moths on a high rise building. In summer timed insects on flower counts, pan trapping, pitfall trapping and Malais trapping exercises are undertaken to monitor invertebrates.

In 2021, after 3 years of enhancements and sympathetic management the roof was home to twice the variety and abundance of flowering plants offering more nectar and pollen to pollinators. Bumblebee Number had increased 90 fold on pre 2019 numbers.

Our work for Nomura drives forward the companies environmental commitment and contributes towards the City of London Biodiversity Action Plan, Clean Air Strategy, a number of Flood alleviation strategies and climate change adaptation initiatives. We deliver this work using our youth enterprise team which also delivers part of the organisations social responsibility objectives.

In 2019 our partnership secured a DEFRA ‘Bees needs’ champions award in recognition of our efforts to improve the city environment for pollinators and we have since been invited onto the cities Biodiversity steering group where we are helping to shape the future biodiversity strategy for City of London.

Corporation of London and the City Lord Mayor


In 2019 we embarked on a collaboration with the City of London.


We have installed 2 bespoke bee hives on the Mansion House roof for the City Lord Mayor. The bees are housed in Recycled Polymer hives which are encased in oversized WBC style lifts. The design creates superior thermal insulation over 76% more efficient than traditional wooden hives. Our hives were built for us by Eliot Hodge- a highly skilled joiner, carpenter and experienced beekeeper.


The hives design incorporates a replica of the Mansion House portico and Lanterns which sit atop the Patinated Copper Roofs.

 

The bees provide honey for the Mayor and Mayoress to gift to VIP guests at the Mansion House as well as auctioning off jars of Honey alongside visits to the bees with the Lord Mayors Beekeeper Mark Patterson. Thousands of pounds are generated each year through the auctions to raise funds for the Lord Mayors various charities.


We have also removed the fake plastic box planting in the Mansion House window boxes along the portico and replaced them with bee friendly flowers which provide pollen and nectar. The planting and soil are all organic and materials sustainably sourced. No peat or pesticides are used.


We are now represented on the City of London Biodiversity Action Plan steering group where we sit on the biological monitoring and pollinators sub committees. We are working with he City Corporations parks and gardens teams to produce a new and up to date BAP for pollinators as we have previously done for Tower Hamlets. The new City of London BAP is due for publication early spring 2022.


Prior to introducing the bees to Mansion House we removed 2 colonies of bees from the nearby London Stock Exchange meaning that the project did not result in any net increase in hive numbers in the city centre.

Chilli Honey by Macho Bees

In early spring 2015 we began a relationship with Nando’s peri peri chicken restaurant chain.

Nando’s as a company have strong environmental ethics and care a great deal about the environment and the impacts their business has on it. Already a member of the sustainable restaurant association and having made huge strides in their attempts to become one of the greenest eating establishments in the Country. They are also a Times 100 best companies to work for. Nando’s now wanted to turn their attention to helping our struggling bees.

The main ingredients in Nando’s dishes are all reliant upon bees for pollination in their production.
 
• Their high welfare Chicken is raised on a diet rich in legumes requiring pollination by bees

• Chillies, Tomatoes & other ingredients in their marinades are reliant on bees for pollination

• Many of the herbs and spices used in their kitchens require pollination by bees

• Many of their side dishes include vegetables (Tomato, Onion, Squash, Courgette and nuts) which are reliant on bees for their production

Recognising the contribution bees make to their business Nando’s wanted to give something back to the bees but needed advice and guidance on how to go about this.

Initially believing that the easiest way to help bees was to install hives on their restaurant roof tops we pointed out that in a city like London (where hive numbers have tripled in the past decade to over 5500 registered colonies) pumping more bees into an already heavily populated area with limited flower resources did not make ecological sense.

Rather than install hives throughout the city on their premises Nando’s opted to install a hive at their head offices in  Putney (a very green part of London with well below average hive densities) and in addition to this we encouraged them to support bees in other ways through the planting of forage and supporting research into bees. 

Nando’s accepted this suggestion freely and so we connected them with the London Beekeepers Association. In March 2015 25 staff from Nando's Head office alongside volunteers from LBKA helped to plant flowers funded by Nando’s in the grounds of Eden Community Garden and St Pauls Church, Clapham Old Town. 
A large selection of flowers were planted with a focus on late season flowering varieties to provide nectar and pollen during the summer dearth. 

Species planted were those attractive to both honey bees and wild pollinators. Our choice of plants was based on the most recent peer reviewed research into which garden variety plants are most attractive to bees in late summer. This research was carried out at Sussex University and at the Roseybee trial garden.

Plug and pot grown plants were supplied by Roseybee nursery, FlowerScapes and Palmstead.

By August the gardens were full of beautiful flowers and the gardeners reported back that they had seen an increase in the numbers of bees using the gardens since the planting took place.

Meanwhile at Nando’s HQ after a thorough risk assessment of their roof terrace and a detailed assessment of the forage potential of the location an Apicultural hive was installed at their head offices in late April. These bees were redeployed from an area of the city with much higher hive density and since the relocation have faired much better than they did previously.

Close to several of Wandsworth’s larger commons, the Thames Corridor and London Wetland Centre the bees were surrounded with ample forage and between April and July they had filled and ripened 5 supers of liquid honey and produced a super of comb honey for harvesting.

We make weekly visits to the bees from April to August to ensure the bees remain healthy, do not swarm and cause a nuisance to Nando’s or their neighbours. In June the seasonal Bee Inspector visited the apiary and gave our bees a clean bill of health commenting that they were some of the healthiest and most productive bees he had inspected that season.

The honey was harvested in late July and August and after being spun and cold filtered the honey was poured into large storage tanks. 
The honey was then infused with Chillies at the Nando’s test kitchens where it will be used to trial new recipe and dishes Nando’s may add to their menu.
A limited edition 100 jars was also produced and given as gifts to staff who helped with the planting event and to corporate clients and suppliers.

In 2016 we reared a second colony from the Nando's bees and by the end of the season we had 2 very large, healthy colonies which produced 10 supers between them, 7 boxes of honey coming from the parent colony.
200 jars of the 2016 honey were specially packaged in Nando's branded jars and given away as gifts to staff, corporate clients and suppliers. In 2016 we also reclaimed bees wax from the hives which has been made into lip balms and distributed to staff at the head office.

In 2016 we also introduced a 'hygienic' Queen bee to one of our Nando's colonies. These bees are specially bred for their high degree of hygienic behaviour and resistance to common bee diseases and disorders. We hope to breed from this queen and spread her hygienic genes among our other colonies improving upon the bees natural resistance to disease, improving bee health and reducing the need for Chemical treatments for Varroa Mites. This is as close to organic beekeeping as one can realistically get in London.

Since beginning this partnership we have introduced Nando’s to the British Bee keepers Association with a view to replicate this success elsewhere across the UK linking with county beekeeping associations and local artisan beekeepers. As a result Nando's now also have bees on their Cambridge restaurant. 

In 2019 After several years of sweet success we introduced Nando's to Hiver Beers who produced a bespoke 'hyper local' Honey Beer with the Nando's honey which is feature in select restaurants around London. In October 2019 the beer secured 3rd place 'Best Honey Beer' at the 87th National Honey Show. Their Honey has twice won 'Best Urban Honey.'

Nando's are now more aware than ever about the importance of bees to their business and have recently asked their suppliers of fresh produce to look at ways in which their growing practices can be improved to benefit pollinators by implementing steps like reducing usage of harmful pesticides, including flower strips to provide food for wild bees and installing bee nesting sites. Their influence as a large buyer of fresh produce has the potential to reshape the way their suppliers farm the landscape and impact on wild bee populations.

Were really proud of our relationship with Nando's and look forward to working with other businesses to help them improve their environmental credentials and help pollinators
Nando's staff plant Eden Community Garden in Clapham
Above: The finished product; Nando's limited edition Chilli Honey made by the restaurants 'macho' bees.
Above: our hive on the Nando's roof top.
Above: Mark inspects the Nando's bees. Image by Andrew Wilson @wildlondonpics
 
 St Paul's Way Trust Enterprise

St Paul's way Trust Enterprise is an entrepreneurial branch of the St Paul's Way Trust High School in Tower Hamlets, East London. 

The department works with gifted young people to develop business skills and expand their employment horizons when they graduate from high school.

In Autumn 2015 we worked with them to develop an exciting bee keeping enterprise project within the school.

Rather than add hives at the school, which would contribute to over hiving in the area, we sourced honey in bulk from London producers and worked with the young people to cold filter the honey, jar and brand the finished product.

We did this through a series of extraction workshops and a branding design workshop, during which the young people learnt about the requirements of honey labelling and basic design concepts of honey packaging.

The final products were sold at the pupils sales stall at the world famous Borough Market, St Katherine's Dock and at school fates.


We delivered a series of theory sessions about bees and the honey making process so that pupils could understand how the product is made.

Several departments were involved in the project from the design and technology dept, science dept. studying the bees biology and chemistry of soap making to the home economics dept. which will use the honey in cooking.

The aim of the project is to inspire the young people with business ideas and teach them business skills which will benefit them in their adult lives.

In future the school hopes to create its own brand of natural beeswax cosmetics.

The students achievements were showcased at a celebrating enterprise event hosted by the project sponsor JP Morgan on the 3rd March. Students presented their projects and achievements to an audience of JP Morgan directors, business leaders and entrepreneurs. 

For updates on this and other projects follow our Twitter feed @apiculturalLdn
Above: St Paul's Way Trust pupils man their Borough Market honey stall
Above: Customers line up to buy the students honey
Above: Customers trying before buying. Honey tasting was one of the sales tactics the students employed to encourage potential customers to buy their products.
Our work with the Golden Company

In March 2016 we began working with the 'Golden Company' a social enterprise which works with disadvantaged young people 16-21 years old and provides them with training, education and routes into employment.

The Golden Company uses bees and beekeeping to nurture young people's hidden talents and provide them with valuable work experience leading to routes into employment. At the same time Golden Co. use their bees located at their corporate sponsors sites to engage corporate staff, educating them about bees and how we can all help improve the London environment for them.

Apicultural have been managing hives for the Golden Company at their sites throughout the city including the EU Headquarters of the National Bank of Japan NOMURA, London Stock Exchange and Law Firm Lewis Silkin. We work with a Golden Co. apprentice each Friday May to September visiting the corporate apiaries to inspect the bees accompanied by a small group of staff who attend to gain a taste of beekeeping and learn about the bees environmental requirements. We also preach allot to the clients about wild bee conservation and discuss their employers efforts to make London a better place for all pollinators. The benefits to the corporate sponsors include increased staff awareness about pollinators, awareness of the impacts of keeping honey bees, improved mental health and wellbeing and opportunities to volunteer and learn new skills.

Apicultural holds annual honey extraction, Honey Tasting and candle making workshops and demonstrations for Golden Co. clients as well as advising them on planting for bees on their premises roof gardens and roof terraces.

Honey Harvested from the Golden Co. hives is processed by the apprentices who have a regular stall at Borough Market where they promote and sell their honey along side other sustainable products.

You can learn more about the fantastic Golden Co. by visiting their website http://www.thegolden.co/ or follow them on Twitter @thegoldenco

Below you can view a 360 degree virtual in-hive experience of a Golden Co. hive filmed using the latest VR technology.

In Spring 2019 the Golden Company disbanded after many years of success and have handed their assets and clients over to Horticulture gardening charity St Marys Secret Garden whom we continue to work with to deliver and improve upon the amazing work started over a decade ago by the Golden Company. So whilst the Golden Co no longer exists, their legacy lives on through the new partnership. More recently we have reduced the number of hives we keep and some corporate sponsors have given up their bees altogether in favour of sponsoring our hives in the suburbs which is a more suitable location and better for the bees than the city centre. Our sponsors now also fund our 'Golden Future' group for young people aged 16-25 who want to engage in environmental and nature conservation projects. We use our Golden Futures trainees to deliver urban greening projects around the city.

You can learn more about our exciting work with St Mary's Secret Garden by downloading their newsletter 'the Wagle.'
Above: Staff at Nomura visit the bees and below: the Nomura green roof home to the Golden Co. hives
Below: the Golden Co pop up stall makes an appearance at the staff canteen at Nomura International.
Below: Golden Co. hives at Chancery Lane
Download the latest edition of 'The Wagle'

Our work with Hive Restaurant


Hive is a New Honey-Based Concept Restaurant which Launch at Selfridges, Oxford Street in November 2020. 


Hive restaurant at Selfridges, a new honey-based culinary concept restaurant  will be able to experience an immersive honey-inspired environment, with the modernist interior paying homage to the key ingredient of honey through botanical statement walls, decadent golden bee structures, and plant boxes with florals pollinated by the restaurant’s own bee population – which can be viewed dwelling just outside the window.


The restaurant welcomes diners to enjoy an all-day menu, which encompasses a range of innovative dishes that are healthy and comforting, and made with quality organic ingredients. Additionally, Hive will also offer a range of honey and cheese pairings to be enjoyed throughout the day, including Comte and Chestnut Honey, and Fourme d’Ambert with Buckwheat honey. For a truly unique honey-based dining experience, Hive will also be offering a cheese and honey afternoon tea experience, with diners able to choose from a range of delicious teas, Veuve Clicquot champagne, pastries and cheeses to compliment the exquisite range of natural honeys.


Khalid Samata, founder and owner of HIVE tells, ‘A few years ago, I fell in love with Honey. I discovered buckwheat honey and that tasting experience marked the beginning of my evolving journey. I enjoyed the taste of buckwheat honey so much that I became obsessed with how monofloral honeys are made.

For a year, I spent almost every weekend back home in the French Pyrenees, where I am originally from, to discover this buzzing ecosystem, to meet the local experts, to learn about bees, about flowers, about honeys, about the use of honey and its benefits to our health and wellbeing.

I wanted to bring my findings to the UK market. I partnered with Michelin Star Chefs to create the finest honey desserts that are now, served in the best restaurants in London. Because honey is a natural ingredient, I wanted to expand its use to all dishes and after much experimenting and imagination, HIVE Restaurant was born! We are so excited to open our doors and celebrate living life again with such a beautiful concept, amazing food and good company.’

Honey has earned a reputation as one of the purest and most natural ingredients for over 5,000 years, and is known to offer unique remedial qualities, including reducing anxiety, calming insomnia, and combating fatigue. The exceptional range of honeys utilised in Hive’s menu will be both harvested on-site from the restaurant’s own rooftop hives and procured by the artisanal farm Le Miel des Français, who’s selection offers a range of rich natural flavours, chosen to perfectly

 compliment Hive’s menu. 


The rooftop bees are looked after by experienced beekeeper and conservationist Mark Patterson, from Apicultural who will be using his expertise and knowledge to hold monthly talks in the restaurant about the critical importance of bees in the ecosystem. 


Hive can be found on the third floor of Selfridges and will be open from 4th December.

Address and Opening Hours:

Hive Restaurant

3rd Floor Selfridges 400 Oxford Street London WA1 1AB

Reservations: OpenTable - 10 am to 9

.

part of our work with Hive has included advice on bee friendly planting on the restaurants 3rd floor roof terrace, advice on improving the Selfridges & Co 4th floor green roof, sustainable and responsible city centre beekeeping.


we have worked closely with Hive and design company Latierfive to design and manufacture unique bespoke hives for the bees at this location that will provide superior insulation and comfort for the bees.


there has been no net gain in central London hive numbers through this project as prior to introducing 2 colonies of bees will have removed 3 colonies from another nearby location.


keeping 2 hives of honey bees at this site comes with a substantive commitment to plant forage for city centre pollinators.

Our work with The Complete Education Solution (TCES) schools special educational needs children.

TCES is a chain of independent schools catering for hard to reach pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). For many of its pupils the schools offer a 'last chance' at a high school education for young people who otherwise struggle in a mainstream school environment.

We began by working with a single student at TCES North West London Independent School in May 2016 and now deliver 10 sessions each week to different groups of students which includes 1-2-1 learning for those with the most severe needs.

Our experienced practitioner Mark Patterson uses a variety of outdoor activities to teach students core curriculum subjects in an alternative setting. Activities introduced to the students have included bee keeping, poultry keeping, producing natural cosmetics using plant oils and bees wax harvested from hives the pupils have cared for, vegetable growing and harvesting, wood work and Nature conservation.

Through these sessions students have learnt about plant and animal growth and development, pollination, gained a better understanding and appreciation of their natural environment and learnt woodwork and DIY skills all whilst utilising elements of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, mathematics, Information Technology and design.

These sessions take place in small groups or 1-2-1 in a tranquil community garden setting away from the school as well as in the schools onsite outdoor classroom which we have developed. Students taking part in the program have gained a sense of achievement having made and marketed their own products, demonstrated improved confidence in their abilities, as well as improvements in their behaviour and attention span.

Our hatching egg incubation project in the school enables all the schools students to participate and benefit in learning about animal growth, development and the welfare needs of living things.

 We are planning to bring in additional practitioners to deliver 'forest Schools' activities to some of their students and branch out to other campuses.

In early 2017 TCES North West London School received an outstanding OFSTED inspection report and our work with the pupils was credited towards the success of the school and its innovative methods of engaging with hard to reach young people.

In 2018 and 2019 we worked with their East London branch in Stratford to build an onsite vegetable garden, took students on beekeeping excursions and repeated our hatching project.

in March 2019 Apicultural was nominated by TCES for the urban Food Award, Good Food on Prescription award which we went on to win and the Deputy Head Teacher Ishmar Blake attended the award evening with us.

Mark has undertaken the Crisis prevention Institutes ‘management of actual or potential aggression’ (MAPA) qualification to better work with pupils of this nature.

During Covid19 lockdown the value of our outdoor work with pupils was made very clear as many parents of the pupils we work with wrote to the school to praise the excellent work we’ve been delivering with their students.

We are now Delivering AQA unit award qualifications with our young people who will gain level 2 qualifications in:
  • Crop Plant identification
  • Plant propagation, growth and development
  • Pollination and pollinators
  • Composting and soil ecology
  • Animal care
  • Horticultural tool use and maintenance

http://www.tces.org.uk/


London Borough of Tower Hamlets Bees Action Plan.

Having recorded wild bees in the borough for many years and ran regular guided Bee walks ad practical pollinator conservation workshops in the borough we were approached by Tower Hamlets Ecologist to help shape their new Pollinators Action Plan as part of their new BAP.

We have provided advice on which species the borough should focus on, with attention to several rare, threatened and nationally scarce species found in the borough.

We have advised on the importance of dead wood habitats for nesting wild bees and in the absence of Stag Beetle in the borough used bees as a flagship species for the boroughs deadwood action plan.

Apicultural also provided information on planting for bees empowering residents to make improvements at home for bees.

You can access the action plan here: https://www.towerhabitats.org/wild-things-places/bees-in-tower-hamlets/
Tower Hamlets Bees

Catalyst Homes, Biodiverse Housing Estates


Between 2016 and 2019 we  worked with Cataylst Homes social housing provider to make some of their West London housing estates greener and more wildlife friendly through the re-design of amenity planting areas, creation of wildlife habitats and community engagement.


  • worked on 3 of their housing estates delivering biodiversity improvements.
  • We have designed and planted orchards at two of their housing estates.
  • Designed bespoke wildflower seed mixes to create two native wildflower meadows on two different estates each covering over 400m2
  • Re-designed amenity planting beds and boring shrubbery at Windmill Estate replacing the planting with pollinator friendly varieties
  • Engaged with residents and the local community by organising gardening courses, training and seed sharing.
  • Installed composting areas for the community to use.
  • Specified new native hedgerow to replace invasive snow berry and cherry laurel shrubbery around the sites perimeter
  • re-designed an estate roundabout transforming it into a pollinator planting bed.
  • For each site we wrote a management plan for the grounds maintenance team to follow.
  • Provided training in meadow management.



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