Creating a buzz at Ketton cement works

Land around the cement works now home to 30,000 bees to support the biodiversity of the site

LAND surrounding Hanson’s Ketton cement works is now home to 30,000 bees, thanks to company tanker driver and amateur beekeeper Bruce Stokes, who has been keeping bees almost continuously since he was 15 and has donated three hives of bees to support the biodiversity of the site.

‘I have enough bees at my own two sites and wanted to do something to support our local ecosystem here,’ he said. ‘As well as pollinating flowers and plants around the hives, they have a range of around three miles, so they cover the farmers’ fields around our site too.’

Health and well-being specialist Tracey Middleton-Lee organized a volunteering day for members of the cement and packed products team to create access to the new hives by cutting back branches and overgrown bushes and laying five tonnes of recycled aggregates.

She said: ‘Bees are vital to biodiversity, but their numbers have been declining in recent years, so we are pleased to be able to provide a new home. We’re trialling the bees at Ketton with a view to introducing them at other sites as well. Bruce is going to look after the bees in the short term and then we will look to involve other members of the team.’

The honey harvested from the hives will be sold locally in Ketton with the money raised being donated to East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme, a network of volunteer doctors with specialist training in pre-hospital emergency medicine who assist East Midlands Ambulance Service at the scene of life-threatening emergencies. The charity relies on donations to fund the kit and medications the volunteer doctors need.