Herefordshire has a long beekeeping pedigree. Herefordshire Beekeepers Association was founded in 1882, with Alfred Watkins – photographer, keen beekeeper and best known for his ley line theories – among its founders, and in its early years a horse-drawn Bee Van toured the villages giving demonstrations. The first recorded honey show was held in the Hereford Butter Market in 1910, and the association still holds an annual honey show where the public can see local honey and ask questions.
Orchards, hedgerows and meadows shape the honey. At Throne Farm near Weobley the bees work spring fruit blossom in an agroforestry system, multi-species meadows and nearly 15km of native hedgerows. At Lower Blakemere Farm, west of Hereford, the hives stand among farms, hedgerows and oilseed rape.
Most honey here is sold online or by arrangement rather than over a counter: Lower Blakemere Farm offers collection from the farm, and BeeTheKeeper, with hives from the Black Mountains to Ledbury, and Throne Farm both sell online.
Apple blossom in late April and May is the county's most distinctive flow, coming from thousands of acres of cider orchard as well as the dessert-fruit growing around Ledbury and Bromyard. Traditional orchards with old standard trees and unimproved grass beneath them are still relatively common here, and they are excellent bee ground. The Wye and Lugg valleys bring willow, hawthorn and a long bramble season; the woodland on the Welsh border adds sycamore, lime and, in some summers, honeydew from aphids on the conifers and limes. Herefordshire also retains more species-rich hay meadow than most English counties, which supports a genuine wildflower forage in June.
Light and fragrant from the spring orchard crop; the summer honey is fuller and darker, and occasional honeydew years produce something almost black and treacly.
Flowering times are typical and can shift by two to three weeks with the weather, season and altitude.
Hereford, Leominster, Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard, Kington, Weobley, Pembridge
Some beekeepers take a spring super off after the orchard blossom and bottle it separately — it is pale and delicately scented. It is a small, early crop, usually available from June, and most years it gets blended into the main summer honey instead. Ask producers around Ledbury and Bromyard directly.
Honeydew honey is made from aphid secretions on trees rather than flower nectar. It is very dark, malty and low in sugar crystals, so it stays runny. It appears in some years in the wooded border country of west Herefordshire — irregular, unpredictable, and prized by people who know it.
Use the listing details to choose how to buy, then contact the producer before travelling.
The directory does not track live stock or harvest dates. Availability, collection, delivery, prices and seasonal varieties can change, so ask the producer to confirm what is currently available.
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