Making a Difference Together: Dulwich Puxi and Elevated Honey Co
We are proud to announce a new partnership with Elevated Honey Co, a social enterprise based in Shangri-La, Yunnan, China.
In the summer of 2021, Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi Head of College, David Ingram, discovered Elevated Honey Co while travelling through Yunnan Province to seek out the endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys of Shangri-La. Over the course of several months, a relationship developed between the College Leadership Team and Elevated Honey Co, where we sought to understand the story behind this fascinating (and extremely tasty) locally produced honey. There are three compelling reasons why we wanted to work together.
1. Protecting the wild Asian bee
Most commercially produced honey in China is made from foreign bees feeding on flowers that are farmed. These are local, native bees feeding on wildflowers for truly authentic honey.
2. Protecting the environment
These wild bees play a key role in pollinating and sustaining the mountain meadows and forests - home to many endangered animals including the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey.
3. Supporting the local community
Honey production plays a key role in supporting the local village community and helps preserve their way of life. It is a remote mountain village of Tibetan and Lisu minority.
Over time, the relationship has developed into a partnership between Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi and Elevated Honey Co. In the summer of 2022, members of the College Leadership Team visited Yunnan to meet the villagers who work with Elevated Honey Co and witness the formal launch of the partnership.
David Ingram
Founding Head of College
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We believe our students can change the world. We're delighted to partner with Elevated Honey Co to Make a Difference Together here in the mountains of Yunnan. As you can see our Dulwich College apiary is home to wild Yunnan bees, and this project protects those bees, helps pollinate this beautiful wilderness - home to endangered species like the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey - and provides a really important source of income for the mountain people. That is social enterprise at it's best. It's looking after the environment and making a difference together. We are so excited to launch this project together with Elevated Honey.
Katrina Klett
Founder, Elevated Honey Co
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We are really pleased to work with Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, because our mission is to educate beekeepers and consumers in China about the importance of native honeybees, what they can do for the environment, and what they can do for Chinese mountain communities. We want to work closely with educators to help inform the next generation of students. We're so pleased to be in this partnership, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to work with such bright students. Thank you, Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi.
Our partnership with Elevated Honey Co funds investment in beekeeping infrastructure, supports the local community to continue their traditional beekeeping methods, helps members of the community gain employment off their ancestral lands and provides the native honeybees the structures they need to thrive and promote the biodiversity of the local forests.
In addition, our Year 6 and 7 teachers and students have commenced working with Elevated Honey Co to integrate lessons about the ecology, economics and social enterprise of local beekeeping practices into their curricula. As a part of this process, our students will receive pure, “Thousand Flower Honey” from Elevated Honey Co that they will use to raise further funds to support this special beekeeping community.
Christine Haslett
Deputy Head of College and Head of Primary
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We've been committed to developing our curriculum to incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals in really authentic and purposeful ways, so that our children can understand the purpose, the complexity and of course, the importance of a more sustainable future.
In this topic, our children will appreciate the importance of sustainable agriculture, responsible farming and also social enterprise, not to mention the fragile balance of ecosystems and the importance of the ever humble bee.
We are absolutely delighted to partner with Elevated Honey for this really exciting learning opportunity for our children in such a beautiful part of China, so that they can understand the local context, the global context and Graduate Worldwise.
About Elevated Honey Co
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Elevated Honey Co is dedicated to preserving traditional Himalayan beekeeping methods to produce the world's purest honey, while supporting the local beekeeping communities support themselves to thrive.
The project started when Katrina Klett, a 2nd generation beekeeper, visited Lisa village in Diqing, Shangri-La, to understand the local beekeeping practices. Not knowing the language, she relied on body language to communicate and eventually built a deep understanding and connection with the local community.
She observed how they local beekeepers “work with Apis cerana, a docile honey bee, native to Asia, that has a “stable host-parasite relationship” with the Varroa mite parasite (a scenario that American beekeepers’ dreams are made of)”(beegirl.org) instead of the European honeybees that are used in much of the commercial honey production in China.
As outlined in a recent interview with Katrina, “honey from Diqing is appropriately titled, “Thousand Flower Honey,” as there is an abundant nectar flow during the spring and early summer months before the monsoon season starts. As a world biodiversity hot spot, there are thousands of endemic plant species in the mountains that provide a large array of pollen for the bees. The elimination of Varroa infestation and disease issues, coupled with the copious nutrition availability creates abundantly healthy hives, and zero need for in-hive pesticides or supplementary feed products. These beekeeping communities are high in the mountains, far from agriculture, and therefore the honey is as clean and pure as you can imagine” (beegirl.org).
Katrina recognised that although these communities produce pure, tasty, natural honey, the local communities lacked a way to market their products beyond their region. Elevated Honey Co was formed in order to combine the strengths of the community, help them market their honey further afield, and provide a revenue stream for the local economy.
“Each beekeeper who works with Elevated Honey Co. is able to earn a family income and pride from this profession. They are able to live happily with their families, close to the countryside, without having to move to the city for work."
“Elevated’s mission, aside from preserving traditional Asian beekeeping methods to produce the world’s purest honey from naturally-occurring wild beehives, is to achieve three main goals:
- Enable honey producers to make a living wage,
- Offer a solution to environmental degradation, and
- Provide consumers with a safe and authentic product."
(beegirl.org)
More than 26 families currently work with Elevated Honey Co, benefiting from this partnership.
We are so proud to announce this partnership and look forward to working with Elevated Honey Co to support the ecology and economy of the communities in which they work.
References
https://elevatedhoneyco.cn/
https://elevatedhoneyco.com/index.html
https://www.beegirl.org/blog/next-gen-beekeeper-katrina-klett
