Coffin factory staff buzzing after bee colony rehomed to provide honey and wax for local people

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 14/07/2021

A Nottingham coffin manufacturer have helped rehome a colony of bees after they were spotted buzzing about the busy workplace.

Colleagues from Terry Smiths coffin factory, which is based in Huthwaite and is part of Central England Co-op, joined forces with ABM Pest Control and Mansfield Honey Bees to ensure the insects were removed safely and taken to a new home.

A delicate operation was undertaken to coax the bees out of a hive that had developed in the wall of the building before they were secured and transported to their new nearby home to help produce wax and honey for local people to enjoy.

Manager Dave Clarke said: “We knew when colleagues uncovered the colony of bees in the exterior wall of our building we needed to do everything we could to safely remove and protect them.

“We teamed up with a specialist contractor who used a range of methods to safely remove the bees and transport them to a new home in the local area.

“They will now able to enjoy producing honey and wax for many people to enjoy and buzzing around with lots of other bees.

“All of us here at Terry Smiths care about all elements of our community and were so glad we were able to come up with a way of removing the bees to keep our team safe but in a way that aligned with our new purpose of creating a sustainable Society for all.”

The area where the bees were uncovered has now been treated and sealed up in an effort to deter other insects from nesting in the same location.

Notes to editors

Picture caption: Images showcasing the nest of honey bees in a wall outside of Terry Smiths coffin factory, in Nottingham.

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop