Bushwood Bees: Rooftop beekeeping on the East London Mosque

Bushwood Bees have brought their honeybees to Whitechapel – and not in the most likely of places.

Of all the places you’d think to look for honeybees in Whitechapel, this probably wouldn’t top the list. Opening in 2020, Bushwood Bees runs their beekeeping operation from atop the East London Mosque, offering a range of products and activities. 

Throughout the year, they offer three-hour beekeeping taster sessions, priced at £60. Here you get the opportunity to handle live honeybees as well as learn more about them and the types of honey they produce. There’s also a honey tasting session at the end. 

Via their online shop, you can also purchase a range of raw local honey, beeswax blocks and even live bees for brave hobbyists. Bushwood Bees also offer more intensive courses for those interested in pursuing beekeeping more seriously as a hobby or even career.

Lead by Salma Attan, Bushwood Bees has now been operating successfully from the unlikely location for over a year. Writing for the British Library last year, she describes her journey to becoming a full-time beekeeper:

‘Both myself and my husband had been hobbyist beekeepers for 10 years. It got to where our hobby had expanded to the point that it felt like so much more than that.’

‘I had been appointed Essex Bee Health Officer, I had been teaching and mentoring new beekeepers as well as raising healthy local colonies of bees through our local Epping Forest Beekeepers Association.’

Visit Bushwoodbees.co.uk for more information about products and events.