Bees are the business as hive colonies set up on roof of Edinburgh shopping centre

Cameron Toll staff welcome the new tenants to the roof of the centre, from left: Grant Doyle (deputy centre manager), Ciara Sutton (centre administrator), Claire Jefcoate (centre manager), Samantha Burnett (soft services and facilities manager), Anwar Shahzad (security supervisor).

The popular retail destination in the south of Edinburgh has secured a partnership with Scottish sustainable honey company Webster Honey which will see four colonies of honeybees located on the roof of the busy centre.

As well as helping the local environment, the bees will be used in educational events in the centre and produce ‘Cameron Toll honey’.

Honeybees are nature’s best pollinators, flying for up to three miles to pollinate the trees, plants and flowers that turn Edinburgh’s carbon dioxide into oxygen, which means the Cameron Toll bees could become regular visitors to Holyrood Park, Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Local Nature Reserve, The Meadows and even to Princes Street Gardens, bringing environmental benefits far across the city.

The bees are introduced to their new surroundings.

Daniel Webster, managing director of Webster Honey, said: “We’ve very excited to connect with Cameron Toll and take our unique honeybee hive concept onto the roof of a busy shopping centre for the very first time.

"Bees fly over huge distances, connecting with plants and flowers, so it needn’t be a rural environment that hosts them – the important thing is to sponsor a hive and increase our bee population as much as possible.

“We have a great range of affordable packages for businesses of all types and sizes to get involved at this time and do just that – there are numerous benefits to enjoy, not least your own supply of honey, and the satisfaction that you are doing your bit for the environment and to #savethebees.

“The bees will love it here in this buzzy centre. Meik, our beekeeper, will come in on a regular basis to check on them and keep everyone appraised on how they are doing.”

Claire Jefcoate, centre manager at Cameron Toll, said: “Bees play a big part in improving the environment and can start having a positive impact within days. Cameron Toll is at the heart of the community in south Edinburgh and next to a lot of open space, including the neighbouring Inch Park, which we know our bees will love. We’re delighted to be the first shopping centre to work with Webster Honey.

“Our hives are located high up on the roof of the centre so shoppers are very unlikely to see the bees because they’ll be out pollinating and foraging all day but we’re planning to hold events in the centre with Webster Honey where visitors can find out more about bees and why they are so important for the environment. We are also excited to sample our own Cameron Toll honey and to give our shoppers a taste too.”

For further details on how Webster Honey works with businesses all over Scotland who want to support sustainable honey, check out their website at websterhoney.com.