Our bees and their hives

We have been slowly building up our bees over the years and now run around 100 hives. We have tried to keep our bees as native as possible to our area by making nucleus from our own hives rather than buying in bees.

We keep our beehives around a 15-mile radius from home, from Boughrood to the Herefordshire border on the Radnorshire side of the River Wye, and from Brecon to Bredwardine on the Breconshire and Herefordshire side.

Our hives are situated on a number of different sites. We try not to have too many hives at one site so that some nectar and pollen is left for other insects and mammals. Our focus is on fitting our beekeeping into the rhythms of nature with a sensitivity for the wider environment.

Our busy bees make the majority of their honey from the diverse natural flora of the Radnorshire and surrounding countryside which includes Sycamore, Hawthorn, Willow, Rosebay willow herb, Red and White clovers, and Blackberry. We also do some pollination in local apple and pear orchards. As our bees forage on a wide selection of plants and are not restricted to areas that are essentially mono-cropped, we believe this results in a superior honey with a delicate and complex flavour.