On Your Farm

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On Your Farm: Generations of Honey

Generations of Honey

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, Generations of Honey

Helen Mark meets a grandfather and grandson who make honey and rent out hives in Armagh.

Helen Mark is in Armagh, nicknamed Orchard County, to meet a grandfather and grandson whose honey-making business is boosted by renting out their hives to local apple orchards.

In County Armagh’s vast acres of apple orchards, William Haffey and his young grandson Jack Wilson produce honey. The native Irish black honey bee they favour thrives, not just in the hives on their smallholding near Loughgall, but also in the hives they rent out to local apple growers. It’s rental scheme that benefits the pollination of the apple crop, as well as the honey harvest and the bee population. Visiting them on the farm and in the orchards, Helen Mark gets an up-close encounter with the active hives.

William, an experienced carpenter and builder, began working with bees more than forty years ago. When his ten-year-old grandson showed an interest, it was the beginning of a very special relationship. William taught Jack all he needed to know about the bees, from spring-cleaning the hives to building their eco-friendly boxes from recycled wood. The rental scheme to apple orchards means the honey produced carries the taste of the apple blossoms the bees forage on. Their local honey is much in demand. 

Jack has now also started making products such a lip balm from the beeswax extracted from the rich dark honey, and that extra income helps support their honey business. This intergenerational duo share a passion for protecting nature and the bees, in Northern Ireland's "Orchard County".

Produced and presented by Helen Mark

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