The Bee Book: The 2018 MW Luxury Christmas gift

Manufacturer: MW Luxury Packaging
Design: Christian Zebitz
Copy: Melissa Furness
Photography: Alex Bibby
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Location: Global
Packaging Contents: Bee Book
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Paper, carton board

Across the world, bee populations are in sharp decline. With climate change, habitat loss and pesticides to contend with, many different varieties of bee – along with other pollinating insects such as butterflies and moths – are struggling to survive in the modern world. If this trend continues, it could spell catastrophe for humanity.

Bees and other insects are largely responsible for pollination, the delicate process that sees pollen transferred from the male to the female part of a plant. This allows for fertilisation and the production of fruit and seeds. Worldwide, there are just 100 crop species that provide 90% of our food – and 70 of those are pollinated by bees. In simple terms: the fewer bees in our ecosystem, the less we’ll have to eat.

That’s why this Christmas we’re gifting our friends, customers and suppliers something a little different.

Help us save the bees this Christmas.

The Bee Book is a bespoke MW Luxury creation that gives an insight into the hard working life of the honeybee – one of the creatures responsible for bringing cranberry sauce, Brussels sprouts and chestnut stuffing to our plates on December 25th.

Our gifted in-house designer Christian Zebitz created the stunning artwork (with a little help from six-year-old budding artist Isla), while Melissa Furness was responsible for the words, which tell the story of a year in the life of the average honeybee.

In addition to the book itself, each recipient will be gifted with a piece of seed paper, held in an envelope at the back. This biodegradable, recycled material is embedded with wildflower seeds and, when planted in soil and watered, will produce a crowd of beautiful blooms – exactly the kind that attract bees.

We’ve included this seed paper as a reminder that it’s not hard to do your bit for the bees. Planting brightly coloured and strong smelling flowers such as Blackeyed Susan, Sweet Alyssum and Clarkia (all of which are included in the seed paper) will bring bees to your garden, feeding them and keeping local populations healthy.

To use your seed paper you should bury it a thin layer of soil, water it thoroughly, and keep it in a place with lots of sun. In a few weeks you’ll have your first green sprouts. For more detailed instructions, click this link.

How we made the Bee Book
This beautiful book is contained within a carton board outer sleeve embossed with a foil bee logo. Hexagonal notches at the end of the carton allow you to easily slip out the rigid board inner case, which is wrapped in uncoated paper. Moving this inner case under the light reveals a spot UV pattern of flowers and a Christmas wreath. In the centre is the same gold bee featured on the carton.

Open the inner case and you’ll find the book itself, held in a recessed tray and easily removed with a ribbon attachment. The book is made from uncoated paper stock and features a saddle-stitched spine and a beautifully intricate cover illustration with a repeating pattern of bees.

Inside, each page is printed with unique, intricate graphic elements, detailed with gold micro-foiling. As you turn the pages you’ll encounter one gorgeous illustration after the other, learning about the life cycle of the honeybee, and discovering how you can do your bit to maintain bee populations.

The final detail is a gold envelope containing the seed paper, which has been stamped with instructions in an environmentally-friendly ink.