Join us at the peak of springtime for a sticky & sweet event on Sunday 4 May, which is part of our Planting Seeds strand, and organised in partnership with The Wild Bee Co.
We'll start the afternoon with a honey tasting in the new Atrium Bar, where Moni Dajee (The Wild Bee Co) and Sameer Ghai (The London Bee Co) will take us on a journey through the changing seasons and vibrant flavours of the city, brought to life by their honey bee colonies across London and beyond. You'll also have the unique opportunity to savour honey crafted by the inspiring Women Beekeeping Initiative projects they support in East Africa - celebrating sustainability, community and the art of beekeeping across continents.
After the tasting, there will be a chance to purchase products from their pop-up shop, and you'll also receive a complimentary cocktail - made with their honey - to sip on during the screening of the visually spectacular documentary Honeyland.
Event timings:
14:00-15:30 Guided honey tasting
15:30-16:00 Pop-up shopping & honey cocktails
16:00-17:30 Screening of Honeyland
Tickets are £22 each, and include access to the tasting, a complimentary (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) honey cocktail, and an unallocated seat for the screening. They are restricted to 2 per member, meaning you can bring a friend, even if they're not a member.
The Wild Bee Co. have also generously provided us with a special discount code for their online shop - if you use the code GCVIP15 you'll receive 15% off items on their website (excluding workshops).
About the film:
In a deserted Macedonian village, Hatidze, a 50-something woman, trudges up a hillside to check her bee colonies nestled in the rocks. Serenading them with a secret chant, she gently manoeuvers the honeycomb without netting or gloves. Back at her homestead, Hatidze tends to her handmade hives and her bedridden mother, occasionally heading to the capital to market her wares. One day, an itinerant family installs itself next door, and Hatidze’s peaceful kingdom gives way to roaring engines, seven shrieking children, and 150 cows.
Some words from The Wild Bee Co.'s director, Moni Dajee:
The Wild Bee Co. is a female founded, owned and led company based in Surrey, which supports people, planet, and pollinators. Our bees are lovingly cared for in apiaries located in wild flower gardens, parks and rooftops located around London and Surrey. We dedicate a lot of time and energy to the welfare of our pollinator friends so we can harvest our honey in a sustainable and responsible way. By respectfully sharing the magic of the hive and planet, we can help reverse declining Honey Bee populations and help conserve the UK’s threatened pollinators.
Like Honeyland, we celebrate the strength and perseverance of women in the face of adversity. As a female of colour and guardian of bees, I’m passionate about supporting women beekeepers who face unique challenges. Beekeeping has traditionally been an all male-domain in African communities but we're here to change that! Having spent time in East Africa, I’ve seen first hand how self-sufficient initiatives in beekeeping can be transformative for women and their communities. A portion of all our sales go directly to empowering women beekeepers in East Africa. We're giving them the tools to create their own buzz - from equipment and bee suits to training and education.
These incredible women get the chance to gain economic independence, generate a self-sufficient income and become self-sustainable entrepreneurs through the skilful craft of beekeeping. This not only boosts status in the community, but also allows them to focus on what matters most - providing for their families with food, security, medicine and education, all while making a positive impact on the environment. You can learn more about this here.