Autumn 2025 Newsletter

Dafydd Jones • 3 November 2025

Cymraeg isod

Back in March, encouraged by our success last year with our Anglesey summer wildflower honey, we sent off two jars of our Anglesey spring wildflower honey to be judged by the adjudicating panels of the Great Taste Award. When the results were announced at the end of July, we were pleased to report that we got a two star Award! It seems that it was tasted by three panels of judges and their adjudications were as follows:-

"An aroma of caramel lifted from this rich, viscous, amber honey. This a delightfully floral honey with a light astringency on the palate suggesting the bees may have been foraging on tree flowers."

"There were the most delicious wafts of sun warmed woody notes. The burst of floral vanilla that initially filled the mouth followed by fruity musky notes with a savoury edge. This clever honey works in harmony on the palate to allow a burst of spring."

"Wonderful amber colour with excellent viscosity and an enticing floral hit on the nose. A smooth texture coats the mouth with the delicate sweet flavour rich with floral clean notes singing of the environment these bees have been working."

You can buy our honey directly from us in person or on-line or by calling at Anglesey Fine Foods, Valley or Glandwr Butchers Benllech.

In addition to our Anglesey Spring and Summer Wildflower honey, we currently have a limited stock of a rare and unusual Eucryphia honey produced on Anglesey. Read about it in a previous blog.

A client on one of our Meet The Bees experiences in August turned out to be a "secret customer" from Visit Wales. During a discussion after the experience we were informed that our events are now accredited as "Visit Wales Quality Assured Experiences."

Details of our beekeeping experiences and training course are to be found on our website and bookable dates for 2026 events will be published on the website in December.

We will be attending a number of community events in the lead-up to Christmas to sell our honey and support local community groups. We are particularly excited about attending the Farmer's Fayre at Catch22 Brasserie, Valley, described as a mix between a Christmas Fayre and a Farmer's market where our award-winning Anglesey wildflower honey will be showcased on the menu.

We will also be selling our honey at the following events:-

Garreg Lefn Christmas Fair, 5pm onwards 28/11/25
Llandegfan village hall Christmas Fair 10am-1pm 29/11/25
Brynteg village hall Christmas Fair 10am-1pm 30/11/2025
Canolfan Penmynydd Christmas Fair 11am-3pm 30/11/2025
Llangoed village hall Christmas Fair 10am-4pm 6/12/2025

On 18 November (10am-3.30pm), we will be collaborating with Food and Drink Wales and The Helix Programme to deliver a free beekeeping workshop at Coleg Glynllifon. It has been designed for anybody interested in beekeeping and honey production, either as a business start-up venture or, as a diversified enterprise to an existing farm or other business to create a new income stream for that business. Click here for more information and to book your place.

And finally, Christmas is coming!

Jars of our award-winning Anglesey wildflower honey make attractive presents.

This year, for the first time we have enough stock to supply you with both Spring and Summer wildflower Honey at the same time!

Either arrange to call to buy in person or buy online or attend one of the events highlighted above.

Also our gift vouchers for our quality-assured beekeeping experiences and courses are popular and unique gifts and can be purchased on-line. There is no need to specify a date at the time of purchase. This can be arranged later. The gift voucher will be valid for the whole of the 2026 beekeeping season.

Cymraeg

Yn ôl ym mis Mawrth, wedi ein hannog gan ein llwyddiant y llynedd gyda'n Mel o flodau gwyllt yr haf, anfonwyd dau jar o'n mel blodau gwyllt y gwanwyn i'w farnu gan y Great Taste Awards. Pan gyhoeddwyd y canlyniadau ar ddiwedd mis Gorffennaf, roeddem yn falch o adrodd ein bod wedi cael Gwobr dwy seren! Ymddengys ei fod wedi cael ei flasu gan dri phanel o farnwyr ac roedd eu beirniadaeth fel a ganlyn:-

"An aroma of caramel lifted from this rich, viscous, amber honey. This a delightfully floral honey with a light astringency on the palate suggesting the bees may have been foraging on tree flowers."

Gallwch brynu ein mêl yn uniongyrchol gennym ni drwy alw yn Llanddaniel neu ar-lein neu yn Anglesey Fine Foods, Valley neu Gigydd Glandwr, Benllech. Yn ogystal a'n mêl Blodau Gwyllt yr Haf a'r Gwanwyn, ar hyn o bryd mae gennym stoc gyfyngedig o fêl Eucryphia prin ac unigryw a gynhyrchir ar Ynys Môn. Darllenwch amdano mewn blog blaenorol.

Cawsom syndod bod cwsmer ar un o'n profiadau "Cwrdd â'r Gwenyn" ym mis Awst yn "gwsmer cyfrinachol" o sefydliad Croeso Cymrus. Yn ystod trafodaeth ar ôl y profiad, rhoddwyd gwybod i ni bod ein digwyddiadau bellach wedi'u hachredu fel "Profiadau Sicrwydd Ansawdd Croeso Cymru."

Bydd manylion a dyddiadau ein profiadau a'n hyfforddiant ar gadw gwenyn yn 2026 ar gael ar ein gwefan i'w harchebu o fis Rhagfyr ymlaen.

Byddwn yn mynychu nifer o ddigwyddiadau cymunedol cyn y Nadolig i werthu ein mêl ac i gefnogi grwpiau cymunedol lleol. Rydym yn arbennig o gyffrous ynghylch mynychu'r Ffair Amaethwr yn Catch22 Brasserie, Valley, a ddisgrifir fel cymysgedd rhwng Ffair Nadolig a marchnad Amaethwr lle bydd ein mêl blodau gwyllt o Ynys Mon, sydd wedi ennill gwobrau yn cael ei ddefnyddio yn y fwydlen.

Byddwn hefyd yn gwerthu ein mêl yn y digwyddiadau canlynol:-

Ffair Nadolig Garreg Lefn, 5pm ymlaen 28/11/25
Ffair Nadolig Neuadd bentref Llandegfan, 10am-1pm 29/11/25
Ffair Nadolig Neuadd bentref Brynteg, 10am-1pm 30/11/2025
Ffair Nadolig Canolfan Penmynydd, 11am-3pm 30/11/2025
Ffair Nadolig Neuadd bentref Llangoed, 10am-4pm 6/12/2025

Ar 18 Tachwedd (10am-3.30pm), byddwn yn cydweithio gyda Bwyd a Diod Cymru a Rhaglen Helix i gynnal gweithdy am ddim ar gadw gwenyn yn Coleg Glynllifon. Mae wedi'i gynllunio ar gyfer unrhyw un sydd â diddordeb mewn dechrau cadw gwenyn a chynhyrchu mêl, boed hynny fel menter busnes gychwynnol neu, fel menter amrywiol i fferm bresennol neu fusnes arall i greu ffynhonnell incwm newydd i'r busnes hwnnw. Cliciwch yma am fwy o wybodaeth ac i archebu eich lle.

Ac yn olaf, mae'r Nadolig yn nesau!

Mae jar o'n mêl blodau gwyllt o Ynys Mon yn gwneud anrhegion deniadol. Eleni, am y tro cyntaf, mae gennym ddigon o stoc i ddarparu Mel y Gwanwyn neu'r Haf ar yr un pryd!

Trefnwch i alw yn Llanddaniel i brynu wyneb yn wyneb neu prynwch ar-lein neu dewch i un o'r digwyddiadau neu leoliadau a nodwyd uchod.

Hefyd, mae tocynnau anrheg ar gyfer ein profiadau a chwrsiau ar gadw gwenyn yn 2026 yn boblogaidd ac yn unigryw ac gellir eu prynu ar-lein. Nid oes angen pennu dyddiad ar adeg y pryniant. Gellir trefnu hyn yn hwyrach. Bydd y tocyn yn ddilys drwy gydol 2026.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Comment on my blog

Summer 2026 Newsletter

by Dafydd Jones • 2 August 2026

Cymraeg isod

Spring 2026 Newsletter

by Dafydd Jones • 9 April 2026

Spring 2026 newsletter from Anglesey Bees, the leading provider of beekeeping training and experiences in Wales and producer of award-winning wildflower honey.

Winter 2026 Newsletter

by Dafydd Jones • 22 February 2026

Hive-Side Training The Government's Animal and Plant Health Agency is funding free hive-side training for intermediate beekeepers. The Bee Farmers Association have been contracted to deliver this training. As a member of the Bee Farmers Association, Anglesey Bees have been chosen to deliver this training in north Wales. These free half-day training sessions cover focused hive inspections; apiary and hive hygiene; and disease, parasite and predator detection. click here to book your place on a hive-side training session with Anglesey Bees

Pre-Christmas Update

by Dafydd Jones • 27 November 2025

Cymraeg isod

In search for the source of a mystery honey

by Dafydd Jones • 9 September 2025

It started by accident back in 2022. In Early August, after harvesting the summer honey, I returned some boxes of empty honeycomb to the hives in an out-apiary on Anglesey so that the bees could lick them dry before I stored them in a stack, off the hives till the following spring. My intention was to remove these boxes of honeycomb from the hives after a few days but as is often the case, I was distracted by more pressing tasks and a week and a half had passed by the time I managed to recover them. To my surprise, the boxes were heavy when I lifted them off the hives and frame after frame were full to the edges of capped honey! Like a proud father carrying his new-born home from the maternity ward, I brought, what I soon discovered to be a rare treasure, home to be extracted. I proceeded as normal by uncapping the honeycomb and attempted to extract the honey from them by centrifugation. I was surprised that after a few minutes of spinning at low speed, virtually no honey had been flung out. I increased the speed - still nothing! I accelerated to top speed and suddenly with no warning - bang! bang! I slammed the emergency shut-off knob and the spinner ground to a halt. At the bottom of the extractor I found the shattered remains of four frames, still heavy with what appeared to be liquid honey! Bewildered, I came to the conclusion that this was not a late crop of bramble honey but something unusual and very very different to what we were used to. The honey appeared to be in a liquid state but refused to be extracted! Although I have no experience of harvesting heather honey, this honey seemed to have similar thixotropic properties. Both heather honey and our mystery honey have a gel-like consistency of a non-Newtonian liquid akin to ketchup or toothpaste. As a consequence it does not flow predictably and forms a gel at rest but can turn liquid when agitated or stirred. The viscosity of heather honey, due to its higher concentration of colloidal proteins, is so high that it makes the extraction of the honey from the comb very difficult. That’s why heather honey is extracted by pressure (instead of centrifugation), which destroys the combs. Although there was no expanse of heather within range sufficient for our bees to produce this honey, we concluded that we had little choice but to treat it like heather honey. We proceeded to cut the honeycomb from the wooden frames, pack it into a muslin sack and squeeze the honey out of it using a honey press, a device with a threaded shaft and T-shaped handles a bit like an apple press. The honey that it yielded had an unfamiliar bright o range glow, a jelly-like consistency and the taste was divine and unlike anything we had previously produced. We were flabbergasted!

The Terroir of Anglesey Wildflower Honey

by Dafydd Jones • 17 August 2025

A discussion of the environmental and human factors that influence the terroir of Anglesey Bees' award-winning wildflower honey including climate, soil, topography and human influences.

Summer 2025 Newsletter, Anglesey Bees

by Dafydd Jones • 6 July 2025

Cymraeg isod. Spring honey now for sale!

Pollinator strips vs wildflower meadows

by Dafydd Jones • 5 January 2025

Creating a wildflower meadow or just a wildflower border may appear to be a fantastic way to support pollinators like bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. They undoubtedly offer numerous benefits, both for the environment and for us. Wildflower meadows provide essential habitats and food sources for pollinators like bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. These pollinators play a crucial role in the reproduction of many plants, including crops that humans rely on for food. Wildflower meadows support a diverse range of plant and animal species. By creating a habitat based on a variety of native plants, you encourage a healthy ecosystem where different species can thrive. In addition to pollinators, wildflower meadows provide habitats for other wildlife, such as birds, small mammals. These animals contribute to a balanced ecosystem and can help control pest populations.

Swarming

by Dafydd Jones • 7 May 2024

Many beekeepers accept swarming as an inevitable event. Sadly, it results in a significant loss of bees and impacts honey yield and may result in complete colony loss. Furthermore, the need to remove swarms from buildings may cause distress, inconvenience, structural work and cost to neighbours. On our beginner and improver courses we stress the importance of swarm control and share effective management practices with our students that virtually eliminate the occurrence of swarming. First of all, lets investigate what happens when bees swarm and what triggers this to happen. Swarming is a natural process that honeybees undertake in an attempt to reproduce and spread by dividing and starting new independent colonies. In preparation for swarming, the colony initiates the rearing of new queens. Then the old queen and a significant proportion of the flying bees from the colony leave the hive in an attempt to set up home elsewhere. New queens are reared in specially constructed structures called queen cells. An egg, laid in these structures by the old queen hatch into larvae, that are then fed with copious quantities of a high protein diet of royal jelly, derived from pollen and provided by young nurse bees. Around the eighth day after the egg was laid, feeding stops and the queen cell is sealed with a cap of wax and the larvae pupate. It is on this day that the old queen and accompanying flying bees swarm from the hive, leaving behind some workers and some developing queens in their queen cells to hatch out in a further eight days.

Enriching the bees' environment

by Dafydd Jones • 29 February 2024

Trefnant Bach, the home of Anglesey Bees (along with our neighbouring Trefnant Wen and Trefnant Ddu has been in existence for a long time. There is a record of its existence in the 1841 census, earlier court and church records and tithe maps. Recently I discovered records of historical field names such as Cae Hen Gaseg; Cae Beudy; Cae Gamdda; Cae Flaen Drws; Waun and Parciau Mawr. I therefore have every reason to believe that the field boundary hedges consisting predominantly of hawthorn, blackthorn, dog-rose, sycamore and ash and associated ivy, brambles, gorse and rosebay willow herb are ancient. Since we became custodians of Trefnant Bach, we have managed them sympathetically and the sycamores, in particular make a valuable contribution to our spring honey. Furthermore, we manage the spread of ivy through the hedges. On one hand we encourage the contribution of autumn ivy nectar as a valuable top up to winter stores whilst on the other hand, we aim to prevent the collapse of hedgerows under the weight of ivy. Previously, our three fields were grazed by horses, resulting in selective close grazing in some areas and vast expanses of rejected, rank tussocky growth caused by repeated dunging. Stockproof fencing and a small flock of Llŷn sheep cured that over time, resulting in more of a bowling green appearance. The unimproved permanent pasture contained pockets of indigenous white clover, similar in appearance to the land-race, Kent Wild White. I applied the findings from my research in an earlier career as a pasture ecologist at what is now called The Institute of Biological and Environmental Research near Aberystwyth. When a grass/white clover pasture is grazed hard under rotational grazing, there is a change in the ratio of red:far red light reaching the clover stolons at the soil surface, caused by less absorption by the less dense sward. This causes a switch in the growth pattern resulting in more branching and the spreading of clover stolons at ground level. When the livestock were moved on to another field, the biomass accumulated and the resultant effect on the red:far red light perceived by the clover stolons, caused them to stop initiating more branches and produce leafy vertical growth instead and ultimately a mass of flowers which make a significant contribution to our summer honey.