Our hives and bees during the year
PLEASE NOTE – we no longer take orders from our online shop. If you can’t get to our markets or stockists, email Ian at hedgeleyhoney@gmail.com. Thank you.
Being a beekeeper in Northumberland means you get to experience the true beauty of this wonderful county every day, in every season, as you can see by these Gallery pictures.
As I have hives in several locations to take advantage of whichever flowers grow there (like the heather apiary), I get to know the different ecosystems intimately. I hope you enjoy these snapshots of the bees, the hives and how the honey arrives in the jars.
Snazzy new hive colours! 
Sun on the hives 
At the heather apiary – Bell heather (Erica) blooms earlier than the Ling heather 
Bees coming into Hive 2 
Bluebells turning the grass blue 
Hives at the winter apiary 
Lovely purple loosestrife – ideal for bees 
Flower time at the heather apiary 
Hive 51 at the heather apiary 
The heather apiary – the Bell heather (Erica) starts earlier than the Ling heather and is not thixotropic 
Hives at the winter apiary
Honeycomb gallery
Comb ready for the bees next season after spinning out the Ling heather honey. It is thixotropic (its viscosity decreases when stirred or spun), so it is harder to extract than other kinds of honey.
Spectacular bee swarm
This big swarm at one of the flowering oilseed rape fields was taken in May 2019.
As well as buying the Northumbrian Flower Honey and Northumbrian Heather Honey at our regular markets and events, we also have a number of stockists across the county – here’s the full list with links to their websites.