Loughborough Gold is an exclusive product made by the University’s very own鈥痟oneybees who were welcomed to the Loughborough campus in 2013 in a bid to support the declining population while increasing pollination and biodiversity. Last year marked 10 years of Loughborough Gold with one of their most productive years, yet the weather this year has seen the bees struggle.
Ollie Preedy, the University’s head beekeeper commented: “It has been a difficult year for the UK bee population, and this hasn’t been any different in our campus apiary. The weather is a significant factor, which disrupts the bee nesting, the mild and wet winter coupled with the poor spring weather has played a significant part and affected the forage available, which is seen in our honey yield this year. The apiary volunteers continue to manage the bees, and we go into winter with strong and healthy bees.”
The honey is available for staff and students to purchase from鈥痶he . Please note that the Staff Online Shop is Agresso code payment only so personal purchases must be made via the Community and Student Online Shops. ‘Bee prepared’ as sales will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. There is an initial limit of鈥痶wo jars per person, but you can come back for more after Christmas if there are any left.
The honey costs £6.75 for a half lb jar and the money collected from the sale will be used for looking after our bee鈥痗olonies.
Online Shop customers will be contacted after making their purchase to let them know their order is ready to collect from the Herbert Manzoni Building counter. If you have any queries regarding collection, please email creativeandprint@lboro.ac.uk. Please note that due to the delicate nature of this product, delivery is not possible.
The apiary volunteers have worked hard鈥痶hroughout the year to look after the bees and to harvest the honey over the summer months ready to be jarred and sold. This year, the sale of the honey covered the cost of theory training for 10 members of staff.
Nik Hunt, Environmental Manager said: “We are really grateful for the work of the volunteers supporting the bees and helping with honey extraction and jarring, we only have a very small Sustainability team and couldn’t do this without the volunteers. Thank you to all our volunteers this year. Volunteering is a great opportunity to support campus sustainability and biodiversity without needing to be an expert in these fields.”
If you would like to learn more about volunteering at the Apiary, please email sustainability@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk.
The bees support our activities in aid of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
- 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
- 12 – Responsible consumption and production
- 15 – Life on land