Celebrating World Bee Day With Silent Pool Gin
The 20th May is the UN designated World Bee Day, created to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators and our need to protect them as environmental changes and human impacts takes hold.
Silent Pool Gin and Honey
Did you know that honey is a key botanical in our recipe? It's added during distillation to help create the smooth, luxurious mouthfeel that sets Silent Pool Gin apart. It's also our most local botanical, sourced from sustainable hives farmed by bee farmer Sergio, on the Albury estate where the distillery is based.
Want to try Sergio’s honey?
To mark World Bee Day, we’re offering a free pot of Bee Friends Breakfast Honey with every purchase containing a 70cl bottle of Silent Pool Gin made online this week.
Offer ends midnight on 26/05/2024*
Meet Our Beekeeper
Sergio Pignagnoli from Bee Friends
Q. Why is this important to recognise?
"This day should be a celebration of the hard work of such a little insect who is underestimated by many people. Honey bees contribute to so much of the food we eat on a daily basis it is really incredible.
The team at Bee Friends will be celebrating with various talks in care homes and local schools as well as the exciting task of setting up an apiary at Maclaren."
Q. What do you think is the biggest threat to bees?
"The biggest threat has always been us unfortunately – our behaviour and actions.
One damaging aspect was importing honeybees from different continents as they came with parasites, viruses and diseases unknown to our native honey bees causing huge issues and almost wiped them out. Also our use of insecticides and pesticides has contributed to decrease enormously of the insect population, the infamous “windscreen effect”. Whilst we are the worst enemy of bees we are also their best friend as these days most honeybees need a bee keeper to survive.
The Asian hornet is another huge threat to bees and has caused a massive issue throughout Europe where they attack and feed on the honey bees and other pollinators. We are all trying to monitor and find Asian hornet nests to destroy them, so we are going to try and delay as long as possible any chance that they will settle in the UK."
Q. What is the best thing we can do to support the honey bees and local bee farmers?
"We can all make a difference in caring for our environment to become more bee friendly and insect friendly in general thinking about the flowers, products we use. The volume of insects has significantly decreased through the effect of chemicals which have been used so much. We need to invert the trend and look for more products which are products organically avoiding pesticides and chemicals in gardens and crops."
What do you enjoy most about being a beekeeper?
"I really like opening bee hives and to look at these wonderful insects who work so hard. I love watching the forager bees bringing back the nectar and the pollen to the hive. It is so fascinating and calming to watch. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment that I help them do something so important to our world."
How do you think we should celebrate World Bee Day?
"Thinking about what we could do differently to create a more bee friendly environment – what can we do more of? We can have a huge impact from making small changes from garden planting decisions to making sure the things we use are bee friendly – don’t cut the grass everywhere leaving an area for wildlife, plant more flowers and reduce chemicals and pesticides."
T&C
*To take advantage of our World Bee Day Promotion, please place an order by Sunday, the 26th of May. You must purchase a Silent Pool Gin 70cl Bottle, either on its own, as part of a Copa Glass Gift Set or a Luxury Gift Set. With your order, you will receive a complimentary 28g/1oz pot of Silent Pool Gin Honey, while stock lasts.
Experience The World Of Bees With Us
Bee Keeping Experience
The bee hives that supply the honey in Silent Pool Gin are on the slopes of the hills that surround the distillery. Join Bee Farmer Sergio from Bee Friends for a fascinating experience at the apiary - peer into the hives, learn about the life cycle of bees and their importance to our planet, and find out how we use their honey in our gin.