A BUZZ OF ACTIVITY AT THE HOME OF ROLLS-ROYCE
Although car manufacturing has been temporarily suspended,
production of another unique, distinctly British treasure
is running at record levels at the Home of Rolls-Royce: the
world’s most exclusive honey.
In their third full season of production, the dedicated
250,000-strong workforce in the company’s Apiary are set,
once again, to exceed their 2020 volume targets for the ‘Rolls-
Royce of Honey’. Having come through the winter in excellent
health, Rolls-Royce’s English Honey Bees are currently
emerging from their hives and foraging on the half-a-million
trees, shrubs and wildflowers flourishing across the 42-acre
Rolls‐Royce site, plus the eight acres of sedum plants growing
on the manufacturing plant’s ‘living roof ’ – the largest of its
kind in the UK. The more adventurous bees make sorties into
the surrounding Goodwood Estate, whose 12,000 acres of West
Sussex countryside are among the glories of the South Downs
National Park.
Established in 2017, the Goodwood Apiary comprises six
traditional, English-crafted, wooden beehives, each bearing a
polished stainless steel nameplate handcrafted in the company’s
Bespoke Workshop. Five are named after cars in the Rolls-
Royce product family – ‘Phantom’, ‘Wraith’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Dawn’ and
‘Cullinan’ – while the sixth, the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, celebrates the
marque’s illustrious mascot.
12 | Rural Life