STEVE Forshaw can’t be certain when that eureka moment clicked...but he’s sure getting a buzz out of it.

His latest venture Hire A Hive is a truly environmentally friendly piece of inspiration.

Steve aims to roll out the benefits of keeping bees to all sorts of people from businesses to old folks homes and schools and while renting a colony of bees doesn’t cost the earth...it could help save it!

The entrepreneur whose career has taken him round the world, has located the nerve centre of his latest operation a little closer to home... in the back garden of his house in Dentons Green.

And that’s the beauty of the concept...you don’t need masses of space to put a hive.

Then you just sit back and enjoy the therapeutic sight of the worker bees clocking up the air miles as they pollinate our flowers and fruit.

Steve (55) reckons it’s about time we put something back into our planet and believes placing more hives around the area fits the bill perfectly.

He said: “Honey bees are in serious decline around the world, and we want to help redress the balance. Hire A Hive lets both individuals and businesses support the British honey bee.”

Steve provides fully working beehives which he then personally manages.

And he’s getting some great initial response to his brainchild helped by mascot Bertie Bee who features on his website.

Steve added: "Bees are the most effective pollinators on the planet and without them mankind would quite simply perish. Anyone who hires one of our hives can make their very own contribution to the overall numbers and ultimate survival of our local bees.

“Companies or individuals need only a small space to site their hive which we then look after personally.

“That’s why I’m not looking to hire out hundreds of hives at first. The venture has to be kept manageable.”

If the strategy works in the North West, Steve envisages growing hive hire across the UK.

“For companies this offers a unique environmental marketing opportunity at a minimal cost. What greater gift can this generation give the next than a fully functioning environment?”

One novel feature about his hives is their array of dazzling pastel shades instead of the standard wood colour of traditional beehives.

Steve says his hive decoration was inspired by a visit to Portmeirion, home of cult Sixties thriller The Prisoner, where the village houses are all painted like a Mediterranean setting.

SO if you want to get buzzing, there’s more information about Hire A Hive and the chance to discover some amazing 'Bee Facts' at www.hireahive.co.uk