Bee keeper believes government Fire It Up apprenticeship campaign is life saving
Beekeeper and founder of bee products health business Bee Good, Simon Cavill, has welcomed today’s announcement from Education Secretary Damian Hinds, that a greater focus will be put on schools to encourage school leavers to look at apprenticeships as a way forward.
“Bee Good have been sponsors of apprentices for several years,” says Simon Cavill.
“Our latest one being Lara Manton, from family beekeeping business Brackley Bees, as she goes through her training to be a professional bee farmer.
“Whilst the country benefits from many hobby beekeepers, we desperately need more professional bee farmers, both to reverse the declining bee populations, and to engage in UK farming, where pesticides can be removed and flowering crop yields increased by 15-20% purely by introducing hives into their fields. One of the few ways of creating these is through encouraging school leavers to build their skills through apprenticeship schemes. In the context of creating more professional bee farmers apprenticeships are genuinely life saving.”
Whilst bees are such a critical component of the future food provision in the UK, beekeeping is rarely mentioned in the list of available university degrees, and one of the few routes to becoming a professional is through the support of businesses engaging with apprenticeships.
“Today’s announcement is very welcome,” added Simon Cavill. “The importance of bees both in a health and food context is not adequately recognised, and involving schools now in encouraging students to look to apprenticeships for their careers will really help us raise the profile and the opportunities.”
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Notes to Editors:
Contact: Simon Cavill: 01256215215. Simon.cavill@beegood.co.uk
Further details of Bee Good: www.beegood.co.uk
Case study details of the apprenticeship of Lara Manton available on request.