OXFORD BUS COMPANY PRODUCES LOCAL HONEY AT DEPOT FOR CHARITY

We’re not pollen your leg.

Best known for keeping Oxfordshire moving, the Oxford Bus Company has turned its hand to producing honey. Bus driver and beehive enthusiast Barry Duke has produced a tasty batch of ‘City Honey’ from a hive tucked away behind the bus-wash at its Cowley House depot on Watlington Road.

Barry set up the beehive two years ago as part of Oxford Bus Company’s commitment to biodiversity. Following a season of bad weather, the hive did not produce a crop in its first year. But thanks to a consistently warm spring and summer the colony turned into a hive of productivity this year.

The result? 29 jars of fine, ultra-locally produced honey. They are on sale at Cowley House at £4 a jar, with all proceeds going to Oxfordshire charity Maggie’s, which offers support to people with cancer and their loved ones.

Phil Southall, Oxford Bus Company Managing Director, said: “This is a wonderful on-going project led by our colleague Barry. As a beehive enthusiast he asked if he could set up a hive at the depot and we welcomed the plan.

“As a company we’re committed to being socially responsible and embracing ways to enhance the environment and this is a great initiative. It’s also good to be able to support Maggie’s, a vital local charity which Barry decided to back via this project.”

The honey tastes fantastic and is the talk of the depot, I hope there will be plenty more to come in the future.”