Honey Bee Happy: Bramdean's Family of Bee Farmers

Artisan beekeepers just outside Alresford, producing raw Hampshire honey, running hands-on bee experience days, and giving back to local wildlife conservation.

Rachel and her team at Honey Bee Happy both grew up with beekeeping grandfathers, and the family motto still holds: the bees know best. What began as ethical, small-scale beekeeping has grown into proper bee farming over the last few years, but the method hasn't changed. They still do it the traditional way, the Artisan Way, working hives across Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex from a home base just outside Alresford. The main apiary sits in the South Downs National Park, five acres of hedgerow and woodland. From there, hives range out to lavender fields, wildflower meadows, orchards and garden...