Taste of Conwy - Conwy Beekeepers Association

Conwy Beekeepers Association

Contact:
Peter McFadden – Hon Secretary
Ynys Goch
Ty’n y Groes
Conwy
LL32 8UH

Website:
conwybeekeepers.org.uk

Tel: 01492 650851
E-mail:
peter@honeyfair.
freeserve.co.uk

Steve Porter – Chairman
Tel: 01492 596780
E-mail:
bryn-yr-aur@lineone.net

Honey, honey cakes, honey fudge, beeswax candles, beeswax bars, beeswax furniture polish, handcream.

On sale at:

Conwy Honey Fair – Wednesday 13^th September
2007

Gwledd Conwy Feast – 27^th and 28^th October 2007

Conwy Seed Fair Wednesday 26^th March 2008

Conwy Honey Fair - Saturday
13^th September 2008

Local Country Markets –
www.country-markets.co.uk
From individual beekeepers.

The tradition of selling honey goes back a long way in Conwy. In 1284, having erected his English occupied castle and town at the mouth of the river, Edward I granted a charter permitting the local Welsh people to enter the town to trade goods on four days of the year. One of these occasions was decreed to sell honey, on September 13^th, and so began a long association of this walled town, and indeed its rural hinterland, with beekeeping. Over 700 years later the Conwy Honey Fair still attracts eager shoppers to jostle as the beekeepers’ stalls that line the high street groan under the weight of stacks of honey, honey cakes, beeswax candles, soaps and gifts.

Running the Honey Fair since 1990, the Conwy Beekeepers' Association was originally set up in 1978 by Dennis Adams and Gwynfor Evans, with founder
members including Will Berry, descendant of the family that had maintained the Honey Fair since 1850, and Peter McFadden, now Secretary of the Association and organiser of the Fair. “We established the Association to bring local beekeepers together and share knowledge and experience.” explains Peter of the Association, which now has over 80 members from across North West Wales. “We hold meetings at St. David's College and training sessions at our own apiary at Tal y Cafn. We also run a very popular evening class, with the support of the University of Wales Bangor’s Centre for Alternative Land Use, who have helped us with other projects.”

Harvesting pollen and nectar from sycamore, hawthorn and oilseed rape in early summer, blackberries and lime trees midsummer and from heather in early autumn, the bees produce honey which is then used to create honey cakes and honey fudge. A number of members supply honey to Conwy Brewery for its popular Honey Fayre beer. The local beekeepers also turn the beeswax, which is cut from the hive combs before spinning out the honey, into a range of products including candles, handcream and furniture polish.

“We've compiled a list of over 20 different uses for beeswax,” says Peter. “It can be used to free up wetsuit zips and even to seal the mouthpiece of a didgeridoo." Members sell their produce both individually and through cooperative events such as the Conwy Honey and Seed Fairs, the Eglwysbach and Llanrwst Shows and they have won prizes at The Royal Welsh Show. Talking to Peter one gets the impression that, just as honey brought the people together in 1284, it will form an important part of Conwy’s community for many years to come.