Tay Bees and Honey was established to harvest the delightfully flavoursome honey to be had in Fife and Tayside, around the Tay and the Earn. The bees also enjoy their late summer holidays in the Angus glens where they bring in yet more bottled sunshine to keep us all going though the cooler months. You can buy it in the jar with soft set and liquid varieties available as well as – in the right season – as nature intended, in the comb.
Buy (or visit a market stall) and you can point a smartphone at the QR code on the labels and learn more about where that particular harvest came from.
In some seasons, aspiring beekeepers may also be able to buy splits from either from my stocks or from close collaborators at Cloverlea Apiaries.
Where have all the native honeybees gone? Most areas now have honeybees which have hybridised with imported strains, but a small group of enthusiasts (is three small?) with an isolated site in the Ochils are starting to bring them back. Check out the progress we and others have been making with a new bee society for enthusiasts of the native honey bee.
Anything else? Well, with a wealth of experience behind me, why not share it? I’ve been helping the Tay Landscape Partnership find and train new beekeepers, and am willing to provide services based on beekeeping knowledge and scientific training. The beginners in the East of Scotland Beekeepers Association also benefit from training and apiary visits.
My apiaries are mostly in country estates around both sides of the Tay estuary and the Earn. The wonderful Jim built a honey house in Fife which is now commissioned to get the show properly on the road.
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Tay Bees and Honey will be at Louise’s Artisan Market in the High Street, Kirkcaldy, every Friday (if possible!) and will next be at Stockbridge Market, Edinburgh, on Sunday 23rd February. [Note: the entire Artisan Friday Market has been cancelled for 21 Feb due to strong winds and rain. And we’ve withdrawn from Stockbridge this weekend (23rd) due to illness.] Me and my helpers will then turn up there every fourth Sunday (fourth in the month) through 2020. Looking forward to seeing you there!