As communities the world over contemplate the challenge of biodiversity loss — the theme of this year’s World Environment Day — customer experience provider Webhelp is settling into its role of bee guardianship, with nearly a quarter of a million of the buzzing creatures residing happily at its office sites in Sheffield and Kilmarnock. The beehive initiative has been supporting local biodiversity since 2018 in partnership with Plan Bee Ltd.

Fast facts: 

  • World Environment Day has taken place every 5th June since 1974
  • Webhelp hosts 4 beehives at 2 sites, with approximately 60,000 bees in each hive

While most Webhelp employees have been working from home as a result of COVID-19, the bees have been travelling as far as three miles from their Webhelp hives in order to pollenate surrounding plants. Together, the four Webhelp hives produce an average of 40kg of honey per year — the weight of approximately 14 bricks!

Commenting on World Environment Day, Cameron West, Webhelp’s Environmental Coordinator, said:

“The invaluable role of honeybees in the ecosystem cannot be overstated. As well as pollinating more than one third of the food that we eat, bee pollination helps to provide habitats for all flora and fauna. As an environmentally conscious employer, we believe we have a responsibility to enhance the global bee population, and we are very proud to help support local biodiversity. Having our bees on site allows our people to engage with them and gives them the knowledge and confidence to have bees in their own garden.”