Northamptonshire's producers range from a commercial bee farm to a single farm's handful of hives. Beekeeper Honey, based at Evenley near Brackley, manages around 1,500 colonies across the South Midlands. It moves hives to fruit blossom and oilseed rape in spring, beans in June and borage in July, and in a good year to ling heather on the moors in August. It sells mainly to the trade, in wholesale jars and bulk. At the other end of the scale, Neil Holland keeps ten hives on farmland in the rolling hills at Elkington, close to the aptly named Honey Hill. He sells his raw honey through Hive & Keeper and gives the proceeds to the children's bereavement charity Nelson's Journey.
Northamptonshire Beekeepers' Association holds a members' honey show, with classes ranging from light, dark and soft-set honey to mead and beeswax, and publishes a list of members with honey for sale.
To buy in person, Rivendell Bees has a shop, The Bee Hive, at the Old Dairy Farm Craft Centre in Upper Stowe, and Made By The Beekeeper sells from New Lodge Vineyard at Earls Barton. Pastures Poultry, between Yardley Hastings and Olney, sells honey from hives within ten miles of the farm at its farm shop and at the farmers' markets it attends.
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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