Who we are

Urban Bees

Urban Bees is a social enterprise that is bringing bees to cities. Our mission is to promote sustainable and responsible urban beekeeping to a new generation of urban beekeepers through education and training. At the same time we are actively promoting more green spaces in urban areas so that the bees have a source of food and to encourage bio-diversity and thereby help the survival of all bees and other pollinators.

We run regular training courses for beginners, give talks and work in partnership with organisations and companies to fulfil our mission. Current partners include:

• London Wildlife Trust who hosts an Urban Bees training apiary at Camley Natural Park in King's Cross
  
  
• The Co-operative Group who funds Urban Bees to train 20 new beekeepers at Camley Street
  
  
• City of London Festival who work with Urban Bees to maintain bee hives in strategic locations across the City of London

Urban Bees was set up a few years ago by Brian McCallum and Alison Benjamin who started beekeeping in London in 2006 with one hive at the bottom of the garden. They wanted to share their passion for their new hobby with other urban dwellers.

Brian McCallum

Brian has the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA's) Basic Beekeeping qualification, is a member of the BBKA and is the co-author of two books on bees, Keeping Bees and Making Honey and A World without Bees.

Brian teaches beginners beekeeping on one day taster courses, weekly practical hands on courses, and also provides one to one and tailored beekeeping training for companies and organisations.

Before he turned his passion into a business, Brian was a geography teacher, worked in the advertising world and spent many a night pulling ropes on yachts while bobbing around the Atlantic ocean. He has a BSc in Geography and Environmental Studies from Surrey University. He lives in Battersea with Alison and their bees.

Alison Benjamin

Alison introduced Brian, her then new boyfriend, to beekeeping when she mentioned she'd like to keep bees in London. He very romantically booked them both onto a course at the London Beekeepers' Association for her birthday. They were both hooked.

Alison is a co-founder of Urban Bees, and helps Brian on a voluntary basis in her spare time to run the social enterprise by assisting with courses, writing blogs, giving talks and developing partnerships with other organisations to promote sustainable urban beekeeping.

She is a social affairs journalist and has been at the Guardian for 10 years, where she has edited its environment website and currently is the editor of the Wednesday's Society section. She is the co-author of Keeping Bees and Making Honey and A World without Bees and is working on another book about bees. Alison has a History degree from Sussex University.

She moved with the bees from west London three years ago to live with Brian in Battersea.