The Businessman on an Un-bee-lievable Mission.
A new Community Interest Company (CIC) on a mission to save the bees in Dorset and Hampshire by building and installing 500 new beehives across the two counties has launched this month. The mission doesn’t stop there, Bee Mission also plans on offering support for homeless people to upskill and retrain them on a variety of roles within the project, including becoming beekeepers.
Chris Bialan, Founder of Bee Mission, came up with the concept when he was helping his daughter move house: “I was moving my daughter Jess a few years ago with the help of a guy called Serge, we were in the van together for four hours on the way to Stoke from Bournemouth and somehow we got round to talking about bees. I’ve always loved bees, and on that trip, I found out Serge was a beekeeper and had been for the last nine years. At the time, he was running four hives on an estate which got me thinking.”
When he’s not moving daughters or saving bees, Chris is also the Chairman of the Affinity Care Group, the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital, and the Kings Lodge Centre for Complex Needs, as well as being a joint owner of five care homes across the country: “On that journey, I got thinking about all the gardens and available space out there that could be used for hives, and then I realised that the grounds at my care home sites were a great place to start.”
Bee Mission’s pilot scheme happened in 2020 and saw the installation of four beehives at Kings Lodge Nursing Home in Reigate, one of Chris’ care homes where Serge was working at the time. Sadly, the pilot scheme wasn’t successful, but Chris wasn’t disheartened: “The hives at Kings Lodge didn’t actually work, the bees didn’t take well or produce much honey. So, we decided to try another site and we put some hives in at the Allenbrook Nursing home in Fordingbridge, thankfully, this site was much more successful.
“We quickly got up to five hives, all with abundant harvests. Each hive can contain up to 50,000 bees and can produce 40-50kg of honey which is amazing, I have the greatest love and respect for bees and Serge is an amazing bee keeper. If there was a world without bees then the world would stop growing things. They are the most amazing creatures.”
After the success in Fordingbridge, Chris was inspired, and wanted to spread “bee news” and encourage others to do the same: “Seeing the success in Fordingbridge, I began to think about where else we could put hives, and this is where the idea of fostering hives came about. I think that there’s lots of people out there that care just as much as I do about the plight of the bees but wouldn’t have even thought about installing a hive as they don’t know anything about hives or bees and don’t know how to look after them.
“So, what if we could solve that problem? What if we could supply the hives, and either train people up to look after their own hives or send our beekeepers round to manage them? This is when Bee Mission was truly born, imagine if even a small percentage of people had a hive installed and how much difference that could make to our bee population. Our mission now, is to get 500 beehives installed in Dorset people’s gardens, balconies, on roof tops and in local areas, and I think we can do it.”
Bee Mission isn’t just about getting as many bees and beehives installed as possible, as this can have a disastrous effect on natural pollinators if there isn’t enough pollen to go around. “We’re working with bee conservationists to ensure that we also help the wild pollinators. We’re also planning on planting lots of wild meadows and gardens on our own land and we’ll also encourage the communities in Dorset and Hampshire around our hives to plant as many wildflowers as possible.”
The company is already growing and is now on the lookout for land to rent, so it can expand. The team are hoping for a fairly small plot with space for outbuilding, so they can use the space as a Community Training and Display Centre, workshop and home for their own hives and bee-friendly flowers.
Bee Mission doesn’t stop at helping bees, it helps people too: “I was leaving the cinema one night and came across some rough sleepers who I got talking to, they were the most honest and non-pretentious people I have ever met. I ended up buying about 20 meals that night from various take outs for them. The next day I decided that we would start cooking and delivering food out on the streets two or three times a week. Christmas Day was a big eye opener for me, we were out distributing food and there was one group of rough sleepers who had put aside some of their food. I asked why, and they said they were saving some of the food for those less fortunate than themselves. That was heart breaking and inspiring at the same time.
“It was around this time that I met Amy - she came on board to volunteer to help cook and distribute the food – Amy is now my right-hand lady, and a director of the project overseeing the new initiatives and ideas and pushing the project forwards to make it a reality.”
Chris and his team decided they wanted to do more than donate food and worked on some ideas for Bee Mission and how they could help homeless people via the organisation. “We’ve been working with the homeless in Bournemouth for two and half years now and really wanted to provide a way they can get involved, to help them by upskilling and giving them some focus. Whether it’s training to become a beekeeper, packing and selling the honey, or becoming part of the day to day running of the project, we want to offer them new skills and a way to move forward, as well as routine and the knowledge they are making a difference.
“We’ve set out with some big ideas, big targets, and a big mission for Dorset and Hampshire, but we are confident in the power of the community to help and support each other, and the bees. Next stop, Bee Mission 50,000 across the whole of the country!”
To find out more about the work that Bee Mission do, and how to foster a hive, head to www.beemission.co.uk.