Well, we did…and our reasons were plentiful. We don't just make beautiful perfumes in Wales, we are also growers of aromatics and are well versed in the benefits of attracting pollinators. We wanted to harvest (and eat) delicious honey and we hoped to use beeswax in our product development.
When we moved to our Welsh farm back in 2013 we were struck by the diversity of pollinators. And there were lots and lots of bees. They are a joy. This year we decided to go one better and enlist the help of the professionals – the lovely local CwtchBees - to install a couple of hives. Bees, being gentle and furry and really rather lovely would be an excellent addition to our world. The soporific scent of the lavender would attract and keep them contented and given how wonderfully relaxing a jaunt through the field was to us, well the bees would be content and buzzy.
So, it came as something of a surprise to find that actually our bees were just a little territorial. Our jaunts became less frequent. And best not wear shorts.
Recently a lovely lady, Rachel, came to see what we were up to and she solved the riddle for us. Bees really do get funny about their lavender crop. It’s just so good they don’t want to share.