The Founder

The BeeArc grew out of James Fearnley’s 2011 idea to build a research centre which could explore both the medicinal properties of bee products as well as more sustainable forms of beekeeping.

"But the more I found out about the role and meaning of the honeybee the more I came to think how the honeybee’s life could be an inspiration to human beings, particularly in a world where so many of our familiar and stable forms appear to be collapsing”.

James is no stranger to social innovation. Over the last 50 years he has created more than 20 social, cultural, or economic initiatives. He is CEO of Nature's Laboratory in Whitby, where he is promoting what he feels is the need for more sustainable three-dimensional businesses, businesses which balance their economic life with their social and community life and their cultural and spiritual life.

“The old model of bottom-line business is leading us into a dead end. We need to figure out ways in which we can collaborate rather than just compete. I believe the BeeArc can be a place where we can slow down enough to be able to see where we are heading more clearly, time is running out.”