Staff at City firms Olswang and Mishcon de Reya will have noticed a buzz in the air this week, after their central London offices took delivery of beehives and several thousand bees.

The firms are taking part in a pilot scheme testing the impact of urban beekeeping on office morale, launched by business improvement agency inmidtown. Employees at the firms will don beekeeper suits to feed and take care of the bees, while the less enthusiastic apiarists can tend to the plants needed to keep the bees in pollen.

Dr Susan Parham, head of urbanism at the University of Hertfordshire, will monitor the impact of the hives on the working environment over three months. Olswang partner David Saunders said introducing the beehives has been an education: ‘These gentle little insects really do work hard and we are already benefiting from their presence.’

And in a reversal of the prospect of supermarkets selling legal services, Olswang hopes to sell the honey produced at the end of the season to raise funds for charity. Obiter hopes they do not get stung by any regulatory requirements for setting up their new A Bee S (groan. Ed).