Arthington Honey

07/06/2026

🐝 Local honey now available! 🐝

Our 2026 spring multi-floral runny honey is available to order now for collection from Arthington. Message us if you’d like to order some!

340g jar - £6.50 or 1kg tub - £18.00
(£2 from each jar and £3 from each tub is donated to Epilepsy Action)

03/06/2026

Update from the Apiary: Simon’s having another go at Queen rearing.

How does this work?
In simple terms you fool a colony into thinking it doesn’t have a Queen and introduce some special cells each with one very young larva from eggs laid by your best Queen. The bees then start to raise new Queens in these cells as they think they don’t have a Queen.

Once the cells are sealed (see picture for the Queen rearing frame with 17 out of 20 cells fully developed, some are protected by hair rollers), and the new Queen is nearly ready to emerge from her cell, the cell is placed in a mini mating hive. This is basically a small hive with a cupful of bees in it to look after her. The mini hives in the picture have different colours and shapes to help the Queen returning from a mating flight find the right hive to go into!

The new Queen will go on average 3 – 5 mating flights and mate with on average 15 – 20 Drones (this is the only time the Queen leaves the hive unless she leaves in a swarm). If she returns successfully (a number will be eaten by swallows, house martins etc, or just get lost) she will start laying eggs in about 7 – 14 days. She can then be used as a replacement for an old Queen or to start a new full sized hive.

01/06/2026

🍯 Newly harvested honey now available! 🍯

Our latest spring multi-floral runny honey is available to order now for collection from Arthington. Message us if you’d like some or you have any questions!

340g jar, still £6.50
1kg tubs, still £18.00.
(£2 from each jar and £3 from each tub is donated to Epilepsy Action)

Please note that this early in the season we only have runny honey available. Keep your eyes on this page for announcements if we get any soft set or honeycomb in stock.

27/05/2026

EDIT: Our first harvest is now sold out in record time - thank you for your orders! Don’t worry if you missed out, the bees have been VERY busy and we expect more honey to be ready by Monday. So please message us if you’d like to buy some!

Thank you for “bee-ing” patient, the wait for this year’s honey is over. 🍯 The video shows the first honey of the year running out of the extractor soon to be bottled.

Our spring multi-floral runny honey is available to order now for collection from Friday (29 May) onwards. Message us if you’d like some!

340g jar, still £6.50
1kg tubs, still £18.00.
(£2 from each jar and £3 from each tub is donated to Epilepsy Action)

27/05/2026

We saw this amazing picture of a swarm in Leeds and thought it was good idea to remind you…

Honeybees swarm as a way for colonies to reproduce and is perfectly natural although beekeepers do try and stop it happening by regular inspections of the hive and suitable management of the colony. The bees will usually cluster together in a tree or on a post, or even on a car, before moving off to a new home.

The bees, while perhaps scary to look at, are usually more interested in finding a new home than stinging anyone. However, we would recommend you keep your distance.

If anyone in the local area thinks that they’ve seen a swarm please take a minute to check they are honey bees and not bumble bees or other insects. Please see https://www.bbka.org.uk/what-bee-is-this to help you identify honey bees.

If you’re pretty certain they are honeybees call Simon on 07900 247081, and, if they are accessible and he’s free he will come and try to collect it, free of charge.

If the bees are not collected they could end up in someone’s chimney or wall where they can be a nuisance, so do ring.

If you’re not local to us (or can’t get through) this page may help you find a swarm collector: https://www.bbka.org.uk/pages/category/swarm-removal?srsltid=AfmBOooxFTMRGcgrWxMO_g-csSVSdepDEJOMT4Y8RaALuIO0IH9wQHyU

🐝 Un-Bee-lievable scenes in Leeds this week!

A giant swarm of bees engulfed a pedestrian crossing outside the train station in Leeds - forcing stunned travellers to dodge the insects.

The huge buzzing mass surrounded a crossing near the exit to Leeds Station at around 6.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday (May 25).

Not what you would normally expect to see in the city centre! Have you spotted them this week?

20/05/2026

Today is World Bee Day! 🐝

Why not take a few minutes today to find out more about why bees are so important? (And it’s not just because of the delicious honey they make!)

Learn these top 10 facts about bees and find out more about these remarkable insects.

09/05/2026

A few people have been asking when we might have some honey available.

Simon has this update from the apiary: “We can’t be sure but it looks like some of the hives are well on their way to producing the first crop. We need a week or so of dry warm weather before it will be ready.”

Keep your eyes on the forecast and our page, as soon as we have some we’ll post on here.

08/05/2026

Happy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough!

Here’s a clip we found of him talking about bees 🐝

David Attenborough explains how plants communicate with bees by creating small electric fields.

08/05/2026

It’s the time of year when bees may swarm.

Honeybees swarm as a way for colonies to reproduce and is perfectly natural although beekeepers do try and stop it happening by regular inspections of the hive and suitable management of the colony. The bees will usually cluster together in a tree or on a post, or even on a car, before moving off to a new home.

The bees, while perhaps scary to look at, are usually more interested in finding a new home than stinging anyone. However, we would recommend you keep your distance.

If anyone in the area thinks that they’ve seen a swarm please take a minute to check they are honey bees and not bumble bees or other insects. Please see https://www.bbka.org.uk/what-bee-is-this to help you identify honey bees.

If you’re pretty certain they are honeybees call Simon on 07900 247081, and, if they are accessible and he’s free he will come and try to collect it, free of charge.

If the bees are not collected they could end up in someone’s chimney or wall where they can be a nuisance, so do ring.

(Photo: A swarm of bees on a branch that Simon went out to last year)

25/03/2026

A must-see TV show for bee fans!

Wildlife film-maker Martin Dohrn sets out to film over 60 species of bee in his garden.