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The London Stock Exchange is all abuzz with 100,000 new worker bees set to be employed on its rooftops next month, according to The Independent. The fourth-largest stock exchange in the world has already received the bees’ new home in the form of two beehives. The London Stock Exchange is planning to give the honey away as corporate gifts. The move to bring in honey bees is a small effort to address the threat of a falling honey bee population in Europe.

The falling bee population

There are concerns about the future of European and North American bees as their numbers have been dwindling over the past few years. This has resulted in an increase in urban beekeepers who are concerned about the situation. Xavier Rolet, chief excecutive of the Exchange is one of them.

Rolet is an enthusiastic beekeeper who keeps 50,000 bees at his estate in Provence. The move to bring in bees to the London Stock Exchange is seen by Rolet as a small effort to address the bee problem. It is hoped that the central location of the Exchange in London will be warm enough for the bees through the winter period.

The good news is that Xavier Rolet isn’t the only influential beekeeping enthusiast who is highlighting the plight of the bees. The Independent states that ‘the former Bank of England governor Robin Leigh-Pemberton and the Business Secretary Vince Cable are beekeeping enthusiasts, and the Japanese investment bank Nomura has installed two hives at its London site.’

The London Stock Exchange project

The London Stock Exchange’s project is set up along similar lines to the Nomura beekeeping project. Both organisations have set up a partnership with The Golden Company which is a non-profit enterprise. The Golden Company gives young underprivileged people an opportunity to learn the practice of beekeeping while helping to maintain the beehives. Business skills are also imparted to the youngsters.

Besides the efforts of The Golden Company, the London Stock Exchange is hoping that staff and the local community will also get involved in the beekeeping project.