Pebble Mill bees first honey batch

3 May 2018

Pebble Mill, a world class destination for medical sciences, located along the Bristol Road just a mile from Birmingham City Centre, is combining state-of-the-art healthcare facilities within a natural environment setting.

Last year Calthorpe Estates, the developer, opened a Tranquillity Garden, which is a peaceful, green open space where people can sit quietly, a board walk, and bee hives to cultivate bees that are important for pollination.

Calthorpe Estates has taken practical measures to protect pollinators. Two hives were welcomed last summer to house over 40,000 bees and, since then, the new occupiers have settled in and produced their first proper batch of honey. A second batch will be harvested at the end of September, producing between 40-100 jars of honey dependent on the weather conditions.

The honey has been collected and packaged as “Pebble Mill Honey Produce of Edgbaston. 100% real honey by bees at Pebble Mill on the Calthorpe Estate’’. Jars are being treasured and will be gifted to local organisations such as the Dental Hospital, Bupa care home which has just opened and Circle Health that is constructing the private hospital. Future jars will be given to GVA, that helped bring the bees and FIRA, the landscape and environmental consultants, that helped create the Tranquillity Garden and some food and beverage operators on the Estate, such as Simpsons Michelin-starred restaurant and The Edgbaston boutique hotel and cocktail lounge, to use in their recipes.
Ralph Minott, Development Director at Calthorpe Estates said;

“The honey is a sweet reward for making a home for the bees and, although we joked about starting up a cottage honey business, we did not expect to get an initial batch in the first year. Now we’re looking forward to the next batch later in the year! At Pebble Mill, we are embracing the natural environment and have invested in protecting and enhancing what is there. The Tranquillity Garden links the brook and broad walk nature trail that runs through side of the site, and we are co-funding the £4 million flood risk defence work that is being carried out by the Environment Agency and will complete this year.”