A FAMILY run estate plans to host several hives of a Kinross artisan honey business on its grounds.
The Craigsanquhar Estate aims to bring its food miles down by using the bees to naturally pollinate their gardens.
The estate has agreed to work with Webster Honey to add homegrown honey to its collection of existing products and promote a more sustainable way to produce fruit, vegetables and flowers.
The Craigsanquhar Estate near Cupar, Fife, plans to launch a farm shop later this year to sell the honey to their retail customer base and to serve it to guests staying on their premises.
The hives will be located in a sheltered area of the East side of the estate, which contains a restaurant, a working walled garden and an ornamental garden.
Elizabeth Herkes, daughter of the current owners, manages with her husband the Orvis endorsed wingshooting lodge located six miles away from St. Andrews.
Among other benefits, she sees the partnership as a future opportunity to offer beekeeping experiences to guests and arrange visits to see the hives for local schoolchildren.
She says: “Bees are vitally important to the farming industry, and we are excited to help them thrive.
“As well as improving our carbon footprint through bringing down food miles, we decided to get on board with Webster Honey because we already have a popular range of signature condiments, including jams and chutneys, which we plan to sell in our forthcoming shop.
“We feel that our guests will enjoy the sustainability aspect, as well as taking home honey from the very place they visited.
“Webster Honey have so many practical and achievable ways that businesses like ours can get involved in. They make it easy to save the bees!”
Meik Molitor, Webster Honey beekeeper, comments: “What a fantastic bee friendly location for our bees this beautiful estate is, they are absolutely going to love it here, surrounded by so many fruits, vegetables and flowers.
“Elizabeth and her husband are to be commended as they have had the foresight to see exactly where bees fit into the fragile eco system with their vital pollination role.
“Hopefully they will start producing soon, and Elizabeth can look forward to filling the shelves of her shop with delicious, home-produced honey, potentially flavoured with flowers and herbs from her own garden.”
Other hospitality businesses currently working with Webster Honey include Monachyle Mhor at Balquhidder, and Eden Locke Aparthotel in George Street, Edinburgh.
