Office Buzz: UK Employers Turn to Beehives to Boost Workplace Wellbeing

Why It Matters

The trend links employee mental‑health initiatives with visible environmental action, giving firms a differentiating perk while raising sustainability accountability. However, unchecked expansion may undermine urban biodiversity, making responsible implementation critical.

Key Takeaways

• Office beehives rising across UK workplaces
• Employers cite mental health, community benefits
• Providers report rapid client growth, hiring staff
• Biodiversity concerns arise over urban honeybee density
• Live hive cameras engage employees during breaks

Pulse Analysis

The rise of office apiaries reflects a broader shift toward nature‑based wellbeing programs in post‑pandemic workplaces. As hybrid schedules blur the line between home and office, employers are seeking experiences that break screen fatigue and re‑ground staff in the natural world. Beehives offer a low‑cost, high‑impact solution: employees can observe colony dynamics, participate in workshops, and even livestream hive activity, turning a simple break into a restorative, educational moment that aligns with corporate sustainability narratives.

For the beekeeping service sector, the demand surge translates into rapid business expansion. Companies like Buckley’s Bees, now serving over two dozen UK clients and an international roster, are scaling operations and recruiting full‑time staff to manage installations, maintenance, and educational sessions. Clients range from tech studios to hotel chains, each leveraging the hives as a unique employee perk and a visual testament to environmental stewardship. Live‑feed cameras installed in hives have become a novel engagement tool, allowing workers to monitor bee activity from their desks and fostering a shared sense of responsibility.

Nevertheless, the ecological implications cannot be ignored. Urban ecologists warn that dense concentrations of managed honeybee colonies may outcompete native pollinators for limited floral resources, potentially accelerating declines in wild insects. Responsible providers mitigate this risk by conducting site assessments, avoiding areas with existing high hive densities, and promoting native‑plant habitats alongside the apiaries. Balancing employee wellbeing with genuine biodiversity support will determine whether office beehives remain a sustainable perk or become a cautionary example of green‑washing in corporate culture.

Office buzz: UK employers turn to beehives to boost workplace wellbeing

Providers report rise in demand as companies seek mental health benefits and increased sense of community · Amelia Hill · Sun 8 Feb 2026 07:34 EST (last modified Mon 9 Feb 2026 11:52 EST)

In a growing number of workplaces, the soundtrack of the lunch break is no longer the rustle of sandwiches at a desk, but the quiet hum of bees – housed just outside the office window.

Employers from Manchester to Milton Keynes are working with professional beekeepers to install hives on rooftops, in courtyards and car parks – positioning beekeeping not as a novelty but as a way to ease stress, build community and reconnect workers with nature in an era of hybrid work and burnout.

“There’s something very special – almost spiritual – about enabling your employees to take time away from work to see how nature has created the greatest example of how every business should run,” said Chris Payne, a co‑founder of Green Folk Recruitment.

“If every organisation ran like a beehive – with shared, purpose‑driven goals, decentralised decision‑making where individuals act autonomously for the collective good, and honest communication – it would be a very successful business indeed,” he added.

Twice a year, Payne takes his employees on a four‑hour round trip to Buckley’s Bees in Crewe, where they learn beekeeping and how to construct hives. “When we’re qualified, we’ll bring the hives we’ve built back to our offices,” he said. “It will be a magical moment.”

Emma Buckley, the chief executive of Buckley’s Bees, has about 24 UK clients and more than 10 international ones. Business has grown so quickly that she is now recruiting additional staff.

Image: A person in protective clothing smiles as they look at bees on pieces of honeycomb

While the trend of office apiaries is growing, beekeeping providers say they are also conscious of the potential impact on local biodiversity.

“Our motivation is improving people’s mental health, which employers increasingly understand is closely linked to nature,” Buckley said. “It’s amazing to see the engagement on people’s faces as soon as we start talking about bees: they get completely lost in the world of bees and forget all about their troubles.”

Buckley runs lunchtime workshops for employees and installs cameras inside hives so they can observe the bees from their desks. “We even have one company that livestreams into their break room,” she added.

Mark Gale, the founder and managing director of BeesMax Ltd, said the experience was calming, educational and oddly bonding: a rare opportunity for employees to step away from screens and care collectively for something fragile and alive.

“It’s like nothing else you could possibly experience during a working day,” said Gale, who rents out and manages hives at sites including the QEII Centre in London, the video‑games developer Codemasters and the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel chain. “One minute employees are eating their sandwiches at their desk – and the next, they’re in full body suits with 10,000 bees flying around them.”

Gale said demand had increased so much that he was taking on new, full‑time staff. “The increase is entirely organic,” he said. “It’s all word of mouth.”

Supporters of office apiaries say the appeal goes beyond novelty, pointing to workplace wellbeing, team building and tangible evidence of environmental commitment that companies can showcase to clients and staff alike.

Some teams report that the bees have become a source of camaraderie, and that in a workplace culture where perks often consist of gym subsidies or free snacks, nature‑based experiences feel refreshingly purposeful and even quietly radical.

Image: A man standing next to a beehive speaks to a group of people on the rooftop of Park House

Beehives have been installed in the rooftop garden of Park House on Oxford Street in London.

“A gym discount or fruit bowl is nice, but the bees create a shared story and a sense of stewardship,” said Phillip Potts, the general manager of Park House. “Our tenants say it is the most unusual and memorable workplace perk they have experienced – and our queen bee has developed something of a cult following in the building. We call her Philippa.”

Damson Tregaskis, the founder of Hive5 Manchester, has also noticed an increase in demand. “Employers want to encourage workers to connect more with nature,” she said.

But as the trend spreads, so do questions about its environmental impact. Ecologists and conservation bodies warn that the rapid growth of managed honeybee colonies – particularly in towns and cities – may not be the unalloyed good it appears to be when viewed through a biodiversity lens. Any place with limited green space risks putting additional pressure on already declining wild‑insect populations.

Tregaskis is conscious of this. “I know really big companies who have been interested but their motivation has been, for want of a better word, greenwashing,” she said. “Even in these cases, though, you can connect with the people on the ground and make sure you make a real difference.”

Buckley is also keenly aware of these issues, pointing to research suggesting that in areas with high density of hives, honeybees can compete with native bees, butterflies and hoverflies for limited nectar and pollen.

“We’re careful not to take on any business in locations that are densely populated or already have a lot of beekeepers,” she said.

Office apiaries stem from two modern anxieties: the scramble to improve workplace wellbeing, and the need to be seen acting as nature declines. In a single lunch break, the bees’ quiet hum can offer a moment of both.