Building firm keeping Shropshire bees buzzing

Pave Aways Building Contractors are making a honey extraction room for the Shropshire Beekeepers' Association.

The firm is building the room at the association's headquarters and apiary on Nobold Lane in Shrewsbury.

The project is part of the company's community benefits programme.

The new extraction room, which is being constructed to meet stringent food hygiene standards, will enable the charity to sell the honey it produces at its apiary, where it also hosts training courses and runs a wildlife visitor centre to promote awareness of the role bees play in the environment.

Pave Aways’ site manager Carl Davies is leading the conversion of an existing storeroom into a honey extraction room, including kitting it out to be fully wipeable, replacing the lights, ceiling tiles and fitting sockets for the equipment required to extract and bottle the honey.

The firm is also going to sponsor two hives at the apiary and will donate one to a local school to support the education programme the association is trying to re-introduce.

Managing director Steven Owen said he was delighted that Pave Aways was able to help the association with this project.

He said: "The work that Shropshire Beekeepers' Association is doing is crucial to encourage and educate the public about the importance of bees to the ecological balance of our planet.

“We are always keen to help those charities and organisations in the communities where we work and put our skills to good use where it will make a real difference. The work of the beekeepers’ association to spread the word about bees is incredibly valuable and we are pleased to be a small part of its legacy by sponsoring a hive and sharing one with a Shropshire school.”

David Draper, a committee member and fundraiser for the Shropshire Beekeepers’ Association, said: “We would like to express our sincere thanks to Pave Aways for the reconstruction work it is doing at our apiary.

“This very generous practical contribution will provide a much-needed special room and facility for the clean and efficient extraction of honey, something we could not otherwise have had. This room will further enhance our objective of educating the public on the environmental importance of bees and beekeeping and provide saleable honey to generate income for the charity, helping to ensure its sustainability and, of course, providing delicious honey for consumption.”