2022 was a banner year for Bentley’s “Flying Bees,” which produced a record 1,000 jars of honey from the company’s Honey Production Center of Excellence. Bentley established the Excellence Center as part of the #GOTOZERO sustainability initiative to promote biodiversity around its campus.
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“Flying Bees” started as a colony of 120,000 native honey bees in 2019 and has grown to over 600,000 spread across ten active hives. To cultivate the hives, Bentley works closely with Buckley Bees, who are responsible for keeping the colony healthy and producing honey. They ensure each honeycomb frame is rotated to extract every drop of honey, which is drained, filtered and decanted before churning.
As Bentley explains, the extraction and mesh processes are handled with “the same attention to detail and excellence that one would expect from the Bentley brand”. After the honey has been properly poured, it is carefully packed in elegant jars. Then offered as a unique gift to visitors and VIP guests to Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe.
According to board member Peter Bosch, “These incredibly hard workers not only contribute to our local biodiversity, in my opinion, they are also producers of some of the best quality honey in the world, taking inspiration from their colleagues at our Center for Excellence for Vehicle Finishes.” .”
The Center of Excellence for Honey Production is one of many initiatives that Bentley has launched to promote and enhance site sustainability at its mills. It also planted more than 100 trees around the factory grounds and built birdhouses and hedgehog boxes which dot the campus. Other activities included planting flora and fauna, including more than 5,000 daffodil bulbs, all of which were intended to improve the local environment. Recently, the company teamed up with The Macallan to promote recycling and produce bottles made from recycled Bentleys.
As a result of Bentley’s efforts, the company will celebrate five years of carbon neutrality at its Crewe plant next year. The company credits its biodiversity and sustainability efforts as part of that success. However, the company is not finished. It is currently planning new initiatives to further enhance its environmental impact and ensure its location and business operations continue to reflect the company’s ambition to be a “leader in sustainable luxury mobility”.
