After moving to Busnant Farm in 2007 and fully renovating our home, we were keen to create an eco-friendly garden, providing a source of food for all types of pollinators as well as ourselves. As we were landscaping our garden and creating flowerbeds, we concentrated on planting a good variety of plants and shrubs to attract a variety of pollinators. We had often spoken about being able to have our own honey as we noticed that a large amount of honeybees were attracted to the valley, often swarming on wooden posts around the house – sometimes very close to our front door!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In 2016, a beekeeping course was advertised locally and we attended with our youngest son, Sam. We learnt so many fascinating facts about honeybees. Soon after, we sourced our first hive, complete with honeybees. The number of hives soon started to multiply as the odd clusters of bees would decide to swarm and Richard soon realised that an apiary was desperately needed so the bees would be safe from his flock of sheep. He therefore built an apiary in the orchard, fenced and sheltered from the wind.

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When we opened the burial ground in 2017, we would often talk about ‘Busnant Bees’ to families of loved ones as the honeybees could be seen across the meadow gathering pollen from the wildflowers. Then in 2018, we met Margory, whose husband Brian is now buried with us. One of Brian’s hobbies included keeping honeybees and after his death, Margory generously donated Brian’s bees to us, comforted by knowing that they would still be with him. A plaque has been placed on one of the hives in Brian’s memory. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We now sell our honey, usually taking two crops of honey each year – the first crop is usually taken during the middle of the summer and then the second in autumn, once the honeybees have roamed the hills above and foraged the vast amount of heather on the hills. Heather honey is a lot denser and has a stronger taste; it is said to have similar health benefits to Manuka honey. Our honey is completely raw which means that it is jarred up straight from the hives. There is nothing added or taken away, so it is left completely pure and full of all the natural goodness. 

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Our honey is available all year round. If you are interested in purchasing our honey, please do contact us. If you are local or we are travelling to your area, we may be able to deliver it to you. We also decorate our honey at Christmas, making a perfect gift to pass on to friends and family. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beemail  

 

Sometimes a lot of comfort can be gained by writing things down. Often, there’s things we wish we had said to loved ones if they were still alive, so we’ve come up with ‘Beemail’ to try to help family and friends of loved ones buried with us. We encourage families to talk to our honeybees so their messages can be passed on. Celtic mythology has always held that bees were the link between our world and the spirit world, regarded as messengers conveying guidance and wisdom. 

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