Beekeeping school creates a buzz

About the business

Family-run business, The Bee School, is a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on making beekeeping fun and accessible for all ages. It aims to educate the public on the benefits of keeping bees for both individual and environmental reasons through a range of beekeeping experiences, including summer schools and bee safaris.

How Business Gateway has helped

Armed with a unique business idea, Heather approached Business Gateway for help to turn her vision into a reality. Heather accessed a suite of Business Gateway’s start-up services, including 1:1 support from a dedicated business adviser, as well as advice on her business plan, funding, marketing, and networking opportunities.

Introductions made through Business Gateway resulted in The Bee School successfully accessing a start-up grant from West Dunbartonshire Council, as well as a capital grant that helped towards the purchase of 17 beehives and two bee suits. The new hives were essential for The Bee School’s success in achieving beekeeping accreditation, which requires a minimum of 30 hives.

Through Business Gateway, Heather also benefitted from DigitalBoost support, which included a full Digital HealthCheck to determine what areas of their digital presence required improvements. This support and newfound knowledge were critical for improving The Bee School’s social media marketing and SEO performance, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in brand awareness and led to a record sell-out of the bee safaris this summer.

Thanks to Business Gateway’s networking opportunities, and utilising the adviser’s previous business contacts and network, The Bee School also recently purchased a further 6 honeybee colonies, which have been essential for Heather and her apprentice, Katie, to run the weekend and summer bee schools.

Heather Jackson, owner of The Bee School, said: “I realised that there was a severe lack of beekeeping provision for young people in my local area and I wanted to do something about it, but I needed support and expert business advice to get me started.

“My adviser at Business Gateway was fantastic throughout the whole process, and the DigitalBoost support we received has been particularly beneficial for the growth of The Bee School. We are now one of the first hits when you search for beekeeping schools on Google which is a significant development for us, as we used to be featured at around page 50.”