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It’s Plastic Free July and a great opportunity to think about what we’re buying and how we can reduce the amount of plastic in our day-to-day lives.

According to Greenpeace, researchers have estimated a rubbish truck of plastic ends up in the ocean every single minute. That’s staggering and shameful! This plastic pollution is seriously affecting sea life and confusing birds and other creatures into thinking it’s food. And it’s entering our food chain too.

But by making a few small changes we can reduce the amount of plastic we use.

You’ve probably already made lots of great changes, but here are our top tips to cut out single-use plastics:

  • Use reusable beeswax food wraps instead of single use plastic packaging. They’re perfect for wrapping sandwiches and cheese, or covering a bowl of leftovers.
  • Carry a reusable water bottle – in the UK we use over 35 million plastic bottles every day¹
  • Use reusable shopping bags
  • Buy a reusable coffee cup – 5 billion coffee cups are thrown away every year in the UK¹
  • Buy loose fruit and vegetables – it’s often cheaper than pre-packaged alternatives
  • Definitely no plastic straws!

As a little incentive, we’re offering 10% off all our beeswax wraps and snack bags in July. Use the code plasticfree at the checkout. Visit our on-line shop here.

Our wraps and bags are all handmade in England with Birmingham beeswax, natural tree resin and jojoba oil. They are reusable, washable, biodegradable and compostable. Just use the warmth of your hands to soften the wrap and create a seal.

Plastic Free July – will you take the challenge? 

 

¹  Greenpeace

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It’s Plastic Free July and a great opportunity to think about what we’re buying and how we can reduce the amount of plastic in our day-to-day lives.

According to Greenpeace, researchers have estimated a rubbish truck of plastic ends up in the ocean every single minute. That’s staggering and shameful! This plastic pollution is seriously affecting sea life and confusing birds and other creatures into thinking it’s food. And it’s entering our food chain too.

But by making a few small changes we can reduce the amount of plastic we use.

You’ve probably already made lots of great changes, but here are our top tips to cut out single-use plastics:

  • Use reusable beeswax food wraps instead of single use plastic packaging. They’re perfect for wrapping sandwiches and cheese, or covering a bowl of leftovers.
  • Carry a reusable water bottle – in the UK we use over 35 million plastic bottles every day¹
  • Use reusable shopping bags
  • Buy a reusable coffee cup – 5 billion coffee cups are thrown away every year in the UK¹
  • Buy loose fruit and vegetables – it’s often cheaper than pre-packaged alternatives
  • Definitely no plastic straws!

As a little incentive, we’re offering 10% off all our beeswax wraps and snack bags in July. Use the code plasticfree at the checkout. Visit our on-line shop here.

Our wraps and bags are all handmade in England with Birmingham beeswax, natural tree resin and jojoba oil. They are reusable, washable, biodegradable and compostable. Just use the warmth of your hands to soften the wrap and create a seal.

Plastic Free July – will you take the challenge? 

 

¹  Greenpeace

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Why do bees swarm?

If you see a big, swirling cloud heading out across the rooftops and trees, it could be a swarm of honeybees. They have left the safety of their hive and are flying off to find a new home – a hole in a tree, a chimney or an empty hive. It's an awesome sight! 

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Swarming bees are full of honey - carrying supplies for their new home - so they usually don't sting. But it's best to stand well back just in case!

Swarming is an important, natural process. It happens when a colony of honeybees splits and the queen takes a large number of worker bees with her in search of a new home. It's the way they reproduce. As soon as the old queen reaches the new nest site her entourage builds wax honeycomb so then she can lay her eggs and there’s space for pollen and honey stores.

Meanwhile in the original hive site new queens are hatching. Another one or two queens might leave the colony to set up a new home but one will stay to rule over the original hive. In this way the colony becomes two, three or more colonies.

Honey bees mostly swarm early in the season from late April to June. So this is a busy time for beekeepers!

Swarming early in the season gives the bees enough time to set up their new home and gather plenty of stores to see them through the winter. Beekeepers put out bait hives to try to lure a passing swarm. We also ‘artificially’ swarm our colonies which means separating the brood from the queen and flying bees. This splits the colonies and the urge to swarm goes away - usually! 

So if you are lucky enough to see a swarm of bees, marvel at this force of nature and then find your local swarm collector here: https://www.bbka.org.uk/swarm#swarmmap 

 

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How do you move a honeybee colony?

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