Code = BEE---
BEES of Chester, England
Established by Arthur Kilpin Bulley (January 10, 1861 - May 3, 1942) in 1903 as Bees Nursery. Became Bees Ltd in 1911.
Followed by Sealand Nurseries ca. 1984.
See also Thornton, James Charles, as main Breeder.
[From the Website of the Ness Gardens:] "When the Liverpool cotton merchant Arthur Kilpin Bulley began to create a garden in 1898, he laid the foundations of one of the major botanic gardens in the United Kingdom....Bulley was interested in introducing new plant species from abroad. As he believed that Himalayan and Chinese mountain plants could be established in Britain, he sponsored expeditions to the Far East employing the renowned British plant collectors George Forrest and Frank Kingdon Ward to prove his theory....Part of the Bulley's garden was devoted to the propagation of these plants, and it was here that many of the seeds from the Far East were first cultivated and where his plant and seed company, Bees Ltd, had its beginnings....After his death, Bulley's daughter Lois presented the Gardens to the University of Liverpool in 1948 with an endowment of £75,000."
Alfred K. Bulley
From The Gardeners' Magazine, 1909, p. 430:]...led Mr. Bulley to establish the nursery and seed business known as Bees, Lim., of Sealands, Chester, and Liverpool.
[From Modern Roses II, p. 18:] Bees, Ltd., Sealand Nurseries, Chester, England.
[From the American Rose Annual 1950, p. 187:] Bees, Ltd., Chester, England.
1950 The Rose Annual
p123. Round the Nurseries.
Bees Ltd. 173-181 Mill Street, Liverpool 8
Here at Sealand Nurseries, which cover over 1000 acres of nurseries, farmland and trial grounds, the production of Roses has been one of the highlight activities ever since the formation of the Company in 1906. The acreage under Rose cultivation has progressively increased until, at the present time, the Rose grounds cover 70 to 80 acres and attract hundreds of visitors every season. Approximately half-a-million Roses are budded annually...
Photo J. A. Chatterton, Rose Nursery Manager.
p171. Bees Ltd advertisement.
Bees Ltd. Head Offices 173-181 Mill Street, Liverpool.
Nurseries and Trial Grounds (Over 1,000 acres). Sealand, Chester.
[From The Gardeners' Chronicle, 1983, p. 18:] The 222ha nursery of Temana Bees Ltd, one of the largest and best-known nurseries in the British Isles, is for sale. Better known as Bees of Chester, the business, which flanks the River Dee on the ...
[From The Garden, 1984, p. 357:] Bees of Chester ( now exhibiting as Sealand Nurseries )
[From GC & HTJ, 1985] The 1985/86 season will see Fisons Seeds widely promoted as a new brand in its own right , following acquisition by Fisons in February last year of the holding company Temana Bees . This involves ownership of both the Bees and Webbs ...
[From The Garden, 1998, p. 272:] Bulley set up Bees Nursery at Ness around the same time [early 1900s], to grow and market the alpines and hardy herbaceous plants collected....At this time , the nursery was moved to a new location , at Sealand near Chester , and the old site at Ness was converted by Josiah Hope into an extension of the public gardens that already existed there...
[From the website referenceforbusiness.com] Fisons's Horticultural operations grew geographically through a joint venture with Canada's Western Peat Moss in 1980, and the acquisition of Langley Peat North Ltd. of Alberta in 1983. These purchases gave Fisons access to large peat supplies and the North American market. The British operations were supplanted with the acquisition of Webb and Bees seed operations from Shell Holdings (U.K.) Ltd. in the early 1980s.....
In November 1997, when Rhone-Poulenc acquired the remaining one-third of R-PR that it did not already own, Fisons' fate appeared sealed. Officials at the company's U.S. and U.K. headquarters early in 1998 asserted that Fisons no longer existed, either as a group of subsidiaries or a division.
Followed by Sealand Nurseries.
