ROYAL WINDSOR
Passionate about the environment and all things to do with Bees, Oakdale Bees make by hand, natural, eco hive products including Beeswax wraps, wood, leather and bowl polishes, plus a range of eco gifts including ‘Make your own Beeswax wraps’ kits. British ingredients and eco packaging are sourced from ethical suppliers which are centric to our philosophy. We keep our hives in four acres of wild meadow fields bordering Royal Windsor forest.
BRITISH BEES - 'OUR GIRLS'
Bees are one of the world’s most marvellous creatures; velvet beauties no larger than a marble, powdered with pollen. They hum and dip across your garden or chart a high meander through an orchard of apple trees, darting from flower to flower, poking their heads into petals to find nectar and pollen. In return, the bees help the flowers by spreading their pollen. This is called pollination. Many plants would not be able to fertilise without bees and other pollinators, so this relationship is symbiotic as both bee and flower help each other to reproduce and succeed. In fact, one-third of the food we eat depends on pollinators, so their work is incredibly important for humans too.
A little about the bees, ‘our girls’. They are British Buckfast bees and (yes, we are biased) they are very well behaved, polite and prolific. They forage on the abundant natural larder on our doorstep but can fly up to three miles for particularly tasty treats. Typically, our natural forest larder includes foxgloves, borage, knapweed, clover, cornflowers, poppy’s, honeysuckle, brambles, horse chestnut tree pollen and acres of buttercups. They particularly enjoy our recently planted fruit orchard.
ENVIRONMENT
Our motivation for starting an apiary, apart of course from our passion for bee was to do our bit to abate the alarming decline in the species and the environmental eco system they support. If each of us make small changes it will make a difference. Please read more about out Bees Wax Food Wraps which are a must for any fridge, packed lunch or picnic.
NATURAL BEE WAX
The bees wax is golden and pure and makes superb candles, food wraps and polishes, we even use it in our lotions, balms and soap experience days. New in Summer 2018 are our superb wax food wraps which have received great reviews. A food wrap that’s attractive, eco and effective by locking in food freshness and are hugely versatile.
The wraps are environmentally friendly have no air miles, 100% natural and fun, what is not to love? We sell beeswax wraps in various sizes, including Organic, Liberty and bright and bold, please visit our shop for more information.
HEALTHY HABITS
Our aim is to encourage us all to make small changes and encourage healthy habits to effect greater change. The use of beeswax wraps verses clingfilm is a little daily win everytime. Gifting seeds rather than flowers wrapped in plastic that have been shipped halfway around the world. Switching to natural Wood, Leather and Chaopping Board polishes which contain no nasty addatives. We put some much pressure on however if we collectively make informed switches it does have an impact. So well done you for visting our site and considering our selection of eco hive goodies.
THE HONEY
This artisan honey varies from season to season and by year from a light clear Spring in 2018 to a dark intense (packed with flavour) of Summer 2018 unadulterated and produced in its natural state which unlike the sanitised, strained, filtered blends you see in the supermarkets ours is truly sumptuous and retains the natural goodness.
The wellbeing and medicinal benefits of honey is lauded in particular we are encouraged to ditch the cough medicines and get the local honey jar out at the first sing of a sniff, you can add ginger and why not a tot of whiskey. The mindfulness that can be achieved whilst tendering the bees is uplifting as it is fulfilling and we invite you to our experience days to get creative, relax, learn and just enjoy.
The honey is used in top restaurants locally including; the Bee Hive, White Waltham and the Green Oak, Oakley Green. We also have hives situated in the wild meadow garden at Centrica head office.