TIMES EARTH

Fancy making your own honey? Buzz off

Cult beekeeping is harming bees and our environment, the original urban apiarist tells Damian Whitworth

Dale Gibson runs Bermondsey Street Bees
Dale Gibson runs Bermondsey Street Bees
ROWLAND ROQUES-O’NEIL
The Times

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Should David Beckham buzz off? The former footballer, who has invested heavily in life as a simple countryman, took up beekeeping last year. His wife, Victoria, posted a video on Instagram of him building a hive and he later uploaded photographs of himself in full bee suit holding a frame covered in bees.

Posh and Becks making sweet honey might seem totally innocuous, but some professional beekeepers are unhappy with the rise of the celebrity beekeeper, whose ranks also include Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson. They have helped to create a situation that the Beckhams almost certainly never considered could be a problem: bees have become too fashionable.

“Celebrities hit the headlines when they take up beekeeping. Fashion-driven beekeeping is a big