Local Honey Alresford

Raw, single-sourced Hampshire honey from Honey Bee Happy, a family bee-farming business whose main apiary sits in five acres of hedgerow and woodland near Alresford, in the South Downs National Park.

Head beekeeper Rachel comes from a family of beekeepers, and she and her team keep apiaries across Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex – among lavender fields, town gardens, farmland with hedgerows and borage, and fruit orchards – so the honeys run from light and fruity in spring to rich and dark later in the summer. They also make a lavender honey with local lavender growers, and their beeswax goes to a local food-wrap maker.

You can buy direct at the Petersfield, Whiteley and Alresford farmers' markets and on pop-up shop days at Wood Farm, Bramdean. The honey is also stocked by more than 20 shops, cafés and garden centres across Hampshire and Surrey, including West Lea Farm Shop and Long Barn near Alresford, Garthowen Garden Centre at Four Marks, Juniper in Petersfield, Cassandra's Cup at Chawton and Arden & Scott in Farnborough, and it is sold at Marwell Zoo.

Honey Bee Happy runs beekeeper experience days, family 'hour with the bees' sessions and beekeeping courses, sells overwintered nucleus colonies and collects swarms. Part of the price of every jar goes to HART Wildlife Rescue at Medstead, which hosts some of the hives, and jars sold at Marwell Zoo support the zoo's conservation work.