Our story · Overton-on-Dee

It started with wanting to know where our food came from.

We’re Andy and Emma. Dee Valley Honey Co. is our family’s beekeeping business, built around the bees we look after and the valley we call home.

The beginning

I was working as a Tesco store manager during Covid. Seeing the worry around food supplies made me think more seriously about where our food comes from, and how much we could produce ourselves.

I’d always enjoyed growing vegetables. Keeping bees was another way to learn, get outside and understand the work behind something we often take for granted.

A bit of Grandad in it, too

My grandad had a smallholding at Rose Cottage in Penley, and we lived next door. I remember climbing hay stacks and being around the chickens, cattle and horses.

He was a have-a-go sort of man. That stayed with me: take an interest, give it a try and learn as you go.

From a few hives to a family business

We started beekeeping in 2020. What began as an interest has become a much bigger part of family life, with apiaries across the Dee Valley and plenty still to learn.

The River Dee is the thread behind our name. We’re based in Overton-on-Dee, and the valley gives the business its sense of place.

The bees come first

Beekeeping follows the seasons. Spring brings colony build-up and swarm checks; summer brings harvesting; autumn is about food stores and preparing colonies for winter.

We leave honey for the bees after our summer harvest and check their stores as winter approaches. Some seasons give more than others. We work with that rather than promise the same crop every year.

Meet our makers

Our Welsh wildflower honey comes from our family’s hives. The other products in our shop come from people whose work we’re pleased to share: B L Family Candles hand-pours our beeswax candles in Wrexham, and Busy Bees Cosmetics makes our soaps and skincare in Suffolk.

We’ll always tell you who makes what.

Come along with us

We enjoy sharing what we’re learning—the good brood patterns, the unexpected problems and the jobs that make up a beekeeping year. Follow our apiary updates, meet us at a local event or send us a question.