Support our work

Help more children and communities learn about bees

Tŷ Mêl keeps native Welsh black bees and takes them, and the equipment that goes with them, into schools and community groups across Gwent. Sponsorship pays for that equipment and training, so hands-on learning stays affordable.

Ways to support us See the equipment
Beekeeping equipment laid out for a school visit: hive boxes, frames, a veil, gloves and jars of honey

Why it is needed

Real learning needs real equipment

We need help to fund the hands-on educational projects we run with our local community and Greenmeadow Community Farm. We do not take a wage or draw dividends from the business: what comes in goes back into caring for the bees and expanding our outreach.

Kit for every visit

Children's bee suits, veils and gloves, hive parts to hand round, and the observation hive that lets a class watch living bees safely.

Colonies to learn from

Hives, frames and feed keep healthy colonies at Greenmeadow and across Torfaen, for breeding and for teaching.

Skills and training

Support for training helps us run more sessions, and run them well.

Three ways to help

Choose how you would like to support us

A · One-off, from £4

Sponsor equipment

Pick a specific item, from a crown board to a junior bee suit or a complete hive, add it to your basket and pay once through Stripe.

Browse equipment

B · Monthly, £5 to £50

Monthly sponsorship

A regular amount that helps us plan a whole season. Billed monthly by Stripe until you cancel, which you can do at any time from your receipt.

See the monthly tiers

C · Tailored

Business partnerships

For businesses, schools and organisations: sponsored sessions, equipment packages, training support or a longer-term partnership.

Request a proposal

What you receive

Recognition for sponsors

  • A digital Community Stakeholder Certificate.
  • Your name on our digital Wall of Sponsors.
  • Your name, or a family or business name, stencilled permanently onto the side of the hive if you fund a complete colony system.
  • First access to our quarterly field newsletters.
  • Discounts on honey and the other products we make, once they are on sale.

How we report progress

Impact, counted honestly

Sponsors hear how the work is going through our field newsletters. As our records build up we will publish verified figures for:

  • Educational sessions delivered
  • Children and young people reached
  • Equipment bought with sponsorship
  • Training completed
  • Progress in the apiary and breeding programme

We will only publish numbers we have actually counted, so none are shown here yet.

Before you sponsor. Tŷ Mêl Apiary is the trading name of CalonTerra Ltd, a private commercial business rather than a registered charity. Sponsorships are commercial sponsorships, not donations, and are not eligible for Gift Aid or charitable tax relief. Sponsoring an item does not buy a set number of sessions. Payments are taken securely by Stripe, and we never see your card details. Sponsorship terms.

Route A · Sponsor equipment

Browse the equipment by category

Each category has its own page, so you only ever look at the part of the apiary you came here for. Prefer to see the lot? The full list is below and filters in place.

Complete systems

Complete Hive Systems

A whole colony's worth of hardware in a single sponsorship — everything a new production or breeding hive needs to go into the field.

  • One-off payment

    Full production hive

    The Commercial Producer

    A complete Anel production hive: brood chamber, supers, bio-secure Varroa floor, insulated roof and a full complement of frames — deployed as a working honey-producing and breeding colony.

    £350

  • One-off payment

    New colony starter

    The Starter Colony

    Everything needed to establish a new chemical-free colony — brood box, frames, floor and roof — ready to receive a nucleus drawn from our Varroa-resistant breeding lines.

    £230

Boxes, floors & roofs

Core Hive Hardware

The component parts of the assembly line. Every item here is a physical piece of kit that goes straight onto a hive in Torfaen.

  • One-off payment

    The Brood Box

    The heart of the hive, where the queen lays and the colony raises the next generation of resistant stock.

    £48

  • One-off payment

    The Super Box

    The honey storage chamber stacked above the brood nest, harvested only from the surplus a colony does not need for itself.

    £36

  • One-off payment

    The Varroa Floor

    A bio-secure open-mesh floor that lets mites drop clear of the colony, so infestation is monitored and managed without a single chemical treatment.

    £22

  • One-off payment

    The Insulated Roof

    Keeps condensation and cold out through a Welsh winter, cutting colony stress and the overwintering losses that follow it.

    £28

  • One-off payment

    The Transparent Crown Board

    Lets us read a colony's behaviour and temperament at a glance, without breaking the propolis seal or chilling the brood.

    £4

  • One-off payment

    The Winter Feeder

    A rapid feeder fitted above the brood nest so a light colony can take syrup down safely before the cold sets in.

    £30

Frames, foundation & feed

Consumables & Colony Feed

The parts of a hive that are used up and replaced every season — comb drawn out by the bees, foundation fitted each spring, and the feed that carries a colony through the winter.

  • One-off payment

    Brood Frames (10-Pack)

    Ten frames of laying space, giving a queen the room she needs to build a strong, healthy brood nest.

    £20

  • One-off payment

    Super Frames (10-Pack)

    Ten shallow frames of honey storage — the comb our foragers fill during a good Welsh nectar flow.

    £18

  • One-off payment

    Wax Foundation Pack

    Clean, wax-coated foundation sheets that give the bees a starting template and keep our comb free of chemical residues.

    £17

  • One-off payment

    Winter Rations

    Fondant and feed to carry a colony through the lean months between the last ivy flow and the first spring forage.

    £15

Suits, tools & outreach

Protective Gear & Educational Kit

The kit that puts people safely next to a live colony — free school outreach across Gwent, volunteer training, and swarm rescue work.

  • One-off payment

    The Adult Beekeeper

    A full adult protective suit, gloves and boots for a volunteer or trainee working the apiary alongside us.

    £190

  • One-off payment

    The Junior Beekeeper

    A child-sized protective suit for our free school visits, so pupils can meet a working colony up close and in safety.

    £50.99

  • One-off payment

    The Gauntlets

    A pair of sting-proof gauntlets — the most frequently replaced item in an apiary that teaches as well as produces.

    £10

  • One-off payment

    The Hive Tool

    The single most-used tool in beekeeping: parting boxes, lifting frames and clearing brace comb at every inspection.

    £10

  • One-off payment

    The Smoker

    A stainless smoker to settle a colony during inspections and demonstrations, keeping both the bees and visiting children calm.

    £50

  • One-off payment

    The Swarm Catcher

    Bait hive and collection kit used to recover swarms across Torfaen and rehome them into managed, monitored colonies.

    £30

  • One-off payment

    The Royal Guard

    Queen protection kit — the cages and marking gear used to handle, track and safeguard our selected breeder queens.

    £15

Recurring backing

Monthly Subscriptions

Recurring backing is what lets us plan a season instead of a week. Every tier below bills monthly and can be cancelled at any time from your Stripe receipt.

  • Billed monthly

    The Hive Guardian

    Underwrites the running costs of an entire production hive across the season — the deepest ongoing backing we offer.

    £50per month

  • Billed monthly

    The Winter Feeder

    Keeps feed and fondant flowing to colonies through the toughest months of the Welsh beekeeping year.

    £25per month

  • Billed monthly

    The Swarm Catcher

    Funds the bait hives, fuel and callout kit behind our free swarm collection service across the county.

    £20per month

  • Billed monthly

    The Hive Defender

    Steady backing for the bio-secure floors, mesh and monitoring that keep our colonies genuinely chemical-free.

    £15per month

  • Billed monthly

    The Comb Builder

    Buys frames and wax foundation month after month, so every expanding colony always has room to grow into.

    £10per month

  • Billed monthly

    The Forager

    The entry point. A small monthly contribution that, pooled across our backers, adds up to real hardware in the field.

    £5per month

Sponsoring on behalf of a business or school?

Larger partnerships, equipment packages and sponsored sessions are arranged directly, with a proposal covering what is funded, reporting and recognition.

Discuss a partnership Email Markus