A FORMER music video producer has swapped the A-list for the bee list.
Warren Bader left behind a successful career as a music video producer, working for the likes of Tina Turner and Boyzone, to crowdfund beehives in Scotland.
The 53-year-old wants communities to contribute modest amounts of money to pay for a beehive to be set up in their area.
For £400, Bader says he will set up and maintain the beehive for one year, providing the Crowd-funders with 24 jars of honey from their own hive.
Two years ago, Bader, based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, turned his back on the glamorous lifestyle, bought an allotment and discovered his love for all things honey.
Now a professional beekeeper, Bader is hoping to get local communities to crowdfund – split the cost of renting a beehive in their area for one year.
The 55cm high, 60cm long beehives comes with over 10 thousand honey bees sourced from Scotland and Europe.
The aim is to boost growth of flowers, trees and fruit and vegetables in the areas across Scotland using bees as the catalyst.
Concerns over the significant decrease in the number of bees in recent years has sparked conservationists to take action to keep the species alive.
Mr Bader, who runs Plan Bee, said: “I come down, survey the area and find the best place for the beehive to be set up, then maintain it and get the honey to give to those who contributed to the hive originally.
“We currently have 124 hives rented out across the country and hope to expand that to 500 this year and a thousand the following year.
“Renting a beehive as a community can be very beneficial, not only do they help flowers, plants and trees grow but you also can feel good about doing something positive.
“Bees are essential to our planet, food and our lives, without them the world as we know it would dramatically change for the worse.”
Last year a study of Scottish honey bees found that more than 30% of managed colonies failed to survive the winter.
The survey, by Strathclyde University for the Scottish Beekeepers Association (SBA), showed the loss rate had almost doubled from the previous year.
