It’s a cold January day, and looking back, I’ve realised I haven’t really posted any proper updates about what’s been happening with The Elmer Honey Co.
First off, a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us. The support we get, people tagging us, sharing posts, and recommending us, genuinely means the world to us.
I also want to thank all of our stockists, new and old. Without you, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now, so thank you.
In January 2025, I made a decision: I was going to push hard and see if I could turn what has always been a hobby I love into something that actually works as a business.
I’ve been keeping bees for around eight years now (give or take). Keeping bees and selling honey is great, but the truth is, if it doesn’t make money, it’s just an expensive hobby. Any beekeeper will tell you that beekeeping is addictive. If I can make a living from it, or even break even, that would be a win.
The year started with real momentum. I also had a new chap I started mentoring (hi Mike), which meant making sure I was passing on the best knowledge I could. The funny thing about beekeeping is that you never stop learning. I mentor a few people, and I still have a mentor myself.
Some of you know I’ve had problems with my hands for a while. Over the last five years or so, I’ve gradually been losing the ability to use them. Some days, the left hand is useless. Other days, it’s the right hand; sometimes, both hands.
Even basic things like tying my children’s shoelaces or holding cutlery can be a challenge.
I finally got a diagnosis, and it turns out my shoulders are in a bad way and have been trapping nerves, which basically “switches off” my hands. Surgery can (hopefully) fix this, but the big question has always been: when can I realistically take time off?
Being self-employed means no sick pay, so I kept putting off surgery until winter, when things are quieter. I went into another beekeeping season already knowing my hands and arms might cause issues again.
Our apiaries are scattered all over the place, and I don’t share their locations for security reasons. One site some of you know about is at Arun Crematorium. It’s a lovely location, close to home, and it became a valuable place to keep bees before moving them on to other apiaries. We even took Georgia from Pinks Parlour out for a few hours of beekeeping, which was great fun.
The downside is that publicity brings risk.
Someone found our bees mine and my mentor Paul’s, and over the course of weeks and maybe even months, they slowly and cleverly stole from us. It took us longer than it should have to accept what was happening.
First, queen bees started going missing, which has a huge knock-on effect on the hives. Then we noticed other strange signs: straps tied differently, things moved, and colonies behaving as if they’d been interfered with. Before long, they got bolder: they started taking frames of bees (around half a colony from each hive), then supers full of honey, and eventually whole hives.
I was left with weak colonies and, if I’m honest, I couldn’t face going back there for a few weeks. The stress and upset were unreal.
When I added everything up, stolen equipment, stolen honey, and the loss of production, the impact was probably around £10,000. For a small business like ours, that isn’t just “money”. That’s working capital. That’s family life. That’s the children’s clubs and swimming lessons. Theft like that hits on every level.
We tightened everything up: security cameras, extra measures, and reduced the number of hives at that site to just a handful. We’ve also kept much quieter about our other locations.
Despite that setback, summer was still full-on. Swarm collections, rehoming, and trying to make the best out of a bad situation, all while pushing marketing and trying to increase honey sales.
We also expanded into wasp nest removal because the calls kept coming in. That work genuinely helped fund The Elmer Honey Co., and I met some brilliant people along the way (even if I did get stung endlessly by our “summer friends”).
On top of that, we did dog shows and events, and even ran a session at Bishop Tufnell School, showing the children about bees and letting them taste honey. Summer is always wild; those 12–16 weeks are intense, and most days I’m living in my bee suit, sweating from morning to night.
The reality is, there isn’t enough money in honey alone. We’re not quite big enough for pollination contracts yet, so we needed to diversify again.
That’s where our Pet Paw Balm came in, and it’s been an enormous success. Rumour has it that plenty of customers are using it on themselves too…
Beeswax is another big part of what we produce, and the more bees you keep, the more wax you create. Finding good products to make from wax has always interested me.
We’ve made candles for years, and they’re great, but they’re labour-intensive, and I’ve never really been a “candle person”. Our beeswax polish, though, is something I use all the time. I restored a writing desk for my little girl with it, and it came up beautifully. I use it on my motorcycle boots, too, and anything else I can get away with.
Not all wax is suitable for candles, paw balm, or polish, so I started experimenting with firelighters. They’re a simple product, but they work brilliantly. Several online suppliers have already taken them on, and they’re becoming a proper part of our range.
By October, I needed my first shoulder surgery to happen. With a mix of persistence and luck, I got it done. I can’t thank my friends, family, and fellow beekeepers enough for stepping in and helping us through the six weeks when I couldn’t drive, lift anything, or even move my arm properly.
The good news is that the operation was a success.
The bad news is the pain has been worse than expected, sleep has been rough, and my hands still aren’t working great yet. I’ve been told that as the shoulder heals and the physio continues, things should improve.
So that was 2025, in a nutshell: some big wins, some hard lessons, and one nasty run of thefts that nearly knocked the wind out of us.
If you’ve supported us in any way, thank you. We’re still here, still building, and still pushing forward.
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