Bungled beehive break-in sees residents raise £600 for the smashed-up honey factory

By Callum Cuddeford

A bungled beehive break-in saw Kennington residents raise £600 for the smashed-up honey factory last month.

“Signs of blood” and “shattered glass” suggest bee burglars got into a sticky situation after they tried to break into Bee Urban The Hive, in Kennington Park on May 10.

Head beekeeper Barnaby Shaw arrived at work to find the “double-glazing door smashed” and blood where the wannabee thugs were injured, it was the second failed raid in two years.

There was a sting in the tail for trainee beekeeper Tracy Kidd, 56, from Wyndham Road, Camberwell, who said the “heart-breaking” hit job came at the busiest time of year.

Repairs and rain mean they are still catching up on lost work.

Kidd said: “This was thought about. They’d actually punctured the glass, then it shattered, and then the panel must have fallen on to them when they tried to crawl through.

“But it wasn’t the bees they were after; it was something inside the workshop.”

In the face of bad behaviour, residents of Sutherland Square, led by volunteer Phoebe and her four-year-old son Calder, raised £600 to fix the workshop doors, giving busy staff “faith in the human race”.

Kidd said: “It’s been absolutely overwhelming the kindness of people that have come in to say they feel sorry for what happened.

“All the lovely people who gathered together, all the beautiful volunteers and community around us have shone through and put disgrace to whoever tried to break in.”

The plan is to invite those who donated so they can enjoy fresh pizza and take home a plant to say thank you.

Kidd started as a volunteer but is now learning beekeeping which she said is “so fascinating” and “like another world”.

She added: “It’s absolutely beautiful to see them working.

“The nanny who looks after the young, the cleaner who looks after the house, the builders who cap the honeycomb with wax, and the undertakers who takeaway the dying.”

Barnaby Shaw started the social enterprise in 2013 to work with local schools and businesses to improve the environment for all, they also focus on horticulture and community growing.

On weekends Bee Urban combines beekeeping and beer-tasting, partnered with Virgin Atlantic experience days and their sponsors Hiver Beers brewery, based in Stanworth Street, Bermondsey.

You can volunteer from 12-5pm on Thursdays and Fridays, at St Agnes Place, Kennington Park, SE11 4BE.