Monday, 11 December 2023
Did you know that the university makes honey?
The university has around 70 bee colonies in total, each housing tens of thousands of honeybees. The university's beehives are managed by professional bee farmer, Parks Apiaries and are located at King’s Meadow Campus in Lenton and at Bunny Park – arable farmland south of Nottingham used for a variety of university research.
The flavour and colour of the two varieties reflect the different landscape settings. The King’s Meadow honey is predominantly multi-floral, with bees foraging in the nearby King’s Meadow local nature reserve, University Park, the city centre and beyond as honeybees can travel up to several miles in search of food.
Honeybees at Bunny Park collect nectar from crops such as field bean, but also from trees such as horse chestnut, lime and hawthorn. The bees help increase pollination enhancing biodiversity and once the honey is extracted, it is bottled in its raw state. It’s simply filtered through a nylon mesh, so keeps its valuable enzymes with pollens.
Find out more about encouraging wildlife
By encouraging wild bees into your garden you can help to address concerns about declining bee populations and the impact on crop pollination and food security. To find out how you can help, take a look at The Wildlife Trust’s tips.
Visit the Wildlife Trust website
Buy university honey
University of Nottingham honey is available to buy at the following outlets across campus:
University Park
- SPAR, Portland Building
- SUstainable shop, Portland Building
- Portland Clothing Co, Portland Building
- Trent Cafe, Trent Building
- Coates Cafe
- Hipps Cafe, Medical School
Jubilee Campus
- SPAR, Exchange Building
- Aspire Cafe
Sutton Bonington
King's Meadow
Each pot costs £5 and proceeds will go on to fund environmental initiatives at the university.