Dale Farm bees and honey

Dale Farm honey is available for purchase in our shop, Monday- Friday, 10am – 2pm, please contact us for availability.

Deep in the meadows of the Heswall Dales, our farm is home to thousands of honey bees, the creators of our award-winning Dale Farm Honey.

We are very proud of the honey that we produce and our hives have been a form of pride on the farm for many years. Our honey has an warm floral aroma and flavour, which comes from the nectar our bees collect from beautiful heather and gorse plants in the surrounding Dales.

2024 The Year of the Bee

This year will see much change, we aim to fundamentally improve the care of our bees starting with increasing training for the people we support, staff and volunteers.

Zeb, (Dale Farm’s manager) and staff, have been the driving force for improving: bee care, honey production, training and inclusion of the people we support. We also aim to improve the management and development of our beekeeping and associated activities.

Image Courtesy of Sunlight Bees

Bee training Course

In March a significant number of staff and volunteers underwent training to help everyone better understand Dale Farm’s longer term beekeeping aims, bee care and maintenance, honey production and other beekeeping projects.

As a result of this training we aim to provide and assist those we support in the enjoyment and care of our bees. Throughout the training and moving forward our priority is to provide the most effective and accessible ways to pass on knowledge and skills to each individual. We aim to empower those we support, increase their confidence and enable each person to gain independence and a sense of fulfilment.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Sunlight Bees for providing such a comprehensive and enjoyable course. We would also like to thank them for their continued involvement and encouragement in our bee related activities.

Aims of the Course

  • We will increase the involvement of the people we support and aid understanding and involvement in all aspects of bee care, including: honey production, hive maintenance over the year, documentation, hygiene, safe gowning and first aid.
  • Introduce more comprehensive training for our volunteers and staff in bee management and honey production.
  • Increase the documentation and maintenance of our hives in a way that is accessible to the people we support and meets any related legislative compliance.
  • Increase hive specific equipment to reduce chances of spreading disease amongst our bee community.
  • Greater involvement and liaising with local beekeeping associations to increase our knowledge and local profile as beekeepers.
  • Employ a bee training consultancy (Sunlight Bees), to encourage, train and advise on our beekeeping activities, honey production and ensuring we continue to meet legislative compliance.
  • List of jobs and responsibilities drawn up and delegated amongst staff and volunteers.

Hive Maintenance and Beekeeping Schedules

It has been around three years since there was a programme of hive maintenance. It was realised that some of our hives needed a bit of tender loving care. During and immediately after training, everyone on the farm sprang into action and started to embark on the comprehensive improvement plan that Sunlight Bees had advised.

The people we support have been busy making new beehive frames, maintaining bee boxes, and giving hives a couple of coats of bee friendly paint.

We stored a lot of our hive materials in the honey room over the winter. Before the new honey season starts we are being ruthless, scrubbing, polishing, sterilising, repairing and replacing. Sunlight Bees are guiding us to make sure that everything that needs to be done, gets done. Everyone on the farm is committed to making sure that our bees are super fit, healthy and ready to make lots of lovely honey.

Below are old pieces of equipment that will either be sterilised and reused or thrown away. Our honey room is having a massive revamp before the new season starts and honey production begins.

Moving Forward

  • Our primary aim as always is inclusion of the people we support in all tasks that we perform.
  • Increase the number of hives on the farm – making more yummy honey.
  • Later this in the season Sunlight Bees are to provide further training days based on honey production.
  • To significantly increase the number of people trained in food hygiene – this will increase the involvement and supervision of the people we support in honey production.

New Bees on the Farm

With the help and support of Sunlight Bees (Helen and Ang) we have introduced a new nucleus of bees to our hives.

Risks to Bees

We take the greatest care of our bees and as such, we are aware of the global threat to bees; we remain vigilant for parasitic and fungal problems and the threat from invasive species. In Britain we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the Second World War, which is why Heswall Dales provides such a rare opportunity where our bees can forage on heathland without the threat of pesticides or chemicals. We provide training in bee keeping to anyone on the farm who is interested and wants to learn about our bees.

Honey Recipes

Honey is not just for drizzling on your breakfast. There are plenty of mouth watering recipes you can tempt your taste buds with, or simply enjoy all those wonderful flavours on their own.