Honeybees are key players in pollination. However, they face real threats such as pesticide use, the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), Deformed Wing Virus, Nosema, as well as imminent threats of Small Hive Beetle and the Asian Hornet weakening their defences.

As a Business Partner or Corporate Member there are many ways in which you can become involved in bees and beekeeping, helping us to reshape the landscape and ensure that Britain's bees keep buzzing. For more information please fill in our online form and we will get right back to you or contact the BBKA office by email, here.

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors:

-ALK

'ALK is a research-driven global pharmaceutical company focusing on allergy diagnosis and treatment. ALK is a world leader in allergy immunotherapy — a treatment of the underlying cause of allergy. The company has approximately 2,000 employees with subsidiaries, production facilities and distributors worldwide.

In 2016 ALK UK Ltd made unrestricted grants totalling £52,790.00 to support various activities of the following patient support registered charities including The Anaphylaxis Campaign and Allergy UK.'

For more information please visit:

https://www.alk.net/uk/

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-Hatch Mansfield

Jean-Luc Colombo is a family wine business based in the Northern Rhône in France. Their green philosophy embraces the role that honey bee plays in the biodiversity of their vineyard and are proud to support BBKA in the UK.

Jean-Luc Colombo is a relatively young company by French wine standards. With family origins in Marseille, Jean-Luc moved in 1982, with his wife Anne, to Cornas in the heart of the Rhône Valley. Here they set up an oenology lab and Jean-Luc worked as a winemaking consultant in the region. Four years later, they bought their first vineyard and celebrated their first vintage in 1987. Today, as well as owning vineyards in Cornas, Saint-Péray and the surrounding area, they are pioneering vineyard development in the stunning ‘Blue Coast’ area. The winemaking philosophy is all about respecting the fruit, creating a style which exalts elegance and complexity, with good fruit and freshness, and balanced minerality, alcohol and tannins.

At their hilltop Cornas homestead, Jean-Luc and Anne have created a little paradise with abundant cherry and fig trees, and beautiful flower gardens that offer a stunning view of the Rhône Valley. Living in this idyllic setting in the middle of their vineyards, the family preserve their environment by acting in harmony with nature’s abundance. In addition to their little farm, complete with horses used for the work in vineyards, the Colombo family has 4 beehives producing their own honey. Their first vineyard ‘Les Ruchets’ (The Beehives) was named in honour of the bee colonies found on the property. Their Côtes du Rhône range Les Abeilles (The Bees) is named for these mysterious creatures that inhabit the vineyards where this wine is produced.

Honeybees pollinate more than 90% of flowering crops and so play a vital role in our food supply. In many places around the world, however, bee colonies are in severe jeopardy due to the ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’. To help fight this bee crisis, the Colombos have created the Jean-Luc Colombo ‘Bee Helpful’ program in the US, the UK and in France, with donations going to several organizations dedicated to research and development of methods to bring back the honeybee colonies.

For more information please contact Hatch Mansfield, an exclusive UK agent for Jean-Luc Colombo wines, at [email protected] 
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-2BScientific

With its headquarters in Oxfordshire, UK, 2BScientific is reinventing the supply of immunological reagents and kits to the European research market. At the heart of everything we do lies our mission statement:

2BScientific Ltd’s mission is to become the leading supplier of innovative life science reagents and services to the European research market.

Set up in 2009, the Company recognised how crucial it was for researchers to access the very latest reagents at affordable prices. The company offers the best quality products that make a world of difference to research;

  • Novel range of quality reagents and kits
  • A unique personal service and support designed with the researcher in mind
  • Value for money, always competitive
  • Easy access to friendly and experienced technical support
  • Easy to use website, on line ordering and technical resources
  • Quick and guaranteed delivery

For every order received £1 is donated to the British Beekeepers Association which helps fund their research and helps understand and reverse the decline in both honey and bumble bee numbers. 2BScientific also donates to the Bees for Development Charity!

2BScienitific has also taken the decision to be free of single use plastics and consequently, we have now changed all of our packaging to include recyclable cool bags, recyclable jiffy bags, paper packing fillers, biodegradable self-sealed product bags, biodegradable bubble wrap, biodegradable foam chips (recycled from suppliers). 

2BScientific is very conscious of its responsibility towards the environment and will be continuing to work on utilising alternative materials from plastic from now onwards.

www.2bscientific.com

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-English Mustard Growers

English Mustard Growers have a strong and long commitment to sustainable agriculture.

​Farming is of fundamental importance for birds and wildlife, providing breeding and feeding habitats.

Birds are a good indicator of general environmental well being. 

​

In the summer of 2014 growers took part in an on farm bee and pollinator project

on a landscape scale. The aim of the project was to quantify and improve habitat,

and food sources for bees and pollinators on the farms, throughout a calendar year.

For more information please visit: 

https://www.englishmustardgrowers.co.uk/ 

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-Gecko Jewellery 

'Gecko Jewellery was founded in London in 1992, and is the UK's most comprehensive “one-stop-shop” wholesaler offering customers eight collections, each with muliple new product launches a year, covering a wide variety of looks from classic through to fashion styling. 

Gecko are and RJC accredited supplier. committed to quality as well as design and customer services, and were the proud winner of the Retail Jeweller 2017 'Ethical Supplier of Year' award. 

MORE ABOUT GECKO JEWELLERY

Gecko Jewellery is a leading UK jewellery supplier with an enviable reputation for consistent excellence in customer service and innovation in product and brand development.'

For more information please visit: 

https://www.geckojewellery.com/about-us

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-Suttons Groups

'Suttons is an innovative logistics and supply chain company that aims to create a competitive advantage for our customers through a greater choice of products and services, a determined focus on how we can add value and increase efficiency and industry leading standards of SHEQ.

As a leading global logistics provider with significant business partnerships, Suttons is committed to maintaining the highest standards of business integrity. The Company values guide their relationships with clients, employees and the communities and environment in which they operate.

Suttons approach to sustainability addresses both their environmental and social impacts supporting their objective of being an employer of choice, while meeting client demands for socially responsible partners. These policies have been the foundation of the way they have done business in the past and will continue to be so in the future.'

Please visit Suttons website for more information: 

http://www.suttonsgroup.com/uk/home

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-BurtsBees

At Burt’s Bees when they say ‘natural’ they mean natural. On average, Burt’s Bees products are 99% natural with over half of the products 100% natural. Burt’s Bees believes you’re at your most beautiful when what you put on your body is from Nature — after all, what goes on to your body goes in to your body.

Burt’s Bees formulations support your skin with the nutrients it needs – and none of the chemicals it doesn’t. Burt’s Bees products help you put your best foot, lips, skin, hair and sense of well-being forward. Every day. Available in: Lip Care and Lip Colour, Facial Skincare, Hand and Body Care, Baby Bee and many more!

Over the years Burt’s Bees brand has become one of the world’s leading natural personal care brands. Burt couldn’t be more proud.

For more information please visit their website via: 

https://www.burtsbees.co.uk/

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With another special thanks to these kind organisations who pledge a certain amount to the BBKA each financial year;

We must thank our Grant Giving Trust & Foundation donors for their support. Last year The British Beekeepers' Association hosted the first UK International Meeting of Young Beekeepers at Marlborough College, Wiltshire. The event played host to 27 countries from around the world and contributed to our Vision to inspire a new generation of beekeepers. 

Our supporters included;

Eva Crane Trust

Vandervell Foundation

Wax Chandlers