Review of 2024 and a look to the future for Ben's Berkshire Bees.

New Year is always a good time to look back and reflect on the year and to plan things to come.

• We have sold more honey than ever before. Our super local differentiator of village by village labeling seems to be working well. After some teething issues postal orders from the website seem also to be going smoothly. We have started to supply restaurants including the Goat on the Roof. We have been regular attendees at the Newbury Farmers Market.

• Early in the year we invested in the Bee Mobile after getting stuck in one to many fields. This has made inspecting the bees much quicker throughout the season.

• The company received a grant from West Berkshire Council to improve our honey extraction equipment, which has greatly improved the speed at which we can process honey.

• I became an assessor for the BBKA Basic assessment and continued to win prizes at the Berkshire Honey Show and at the National Honey Show.

• I have given talks to the Young Farmers, Women's Institutes, pre-schools at Shaw House and as part of the Thatcham Festival.

• In terms of our other projects: SIPA Honey Bees - our queen rearing branch had a reasonable year, although the intensity of queen rearing continues to be a step learning curve. The Small Scale Commercial Beekeeping Network we set up has grown into a fantastic community with over 500 members.

In 2025 we are looking to develop further.

• Increasing our number outlets - we are considering a regular attendance at the Thatcham Market on Fridays.

• We are going to start doing beekeeping experience sessions to help supplement the income the business. A limited number are now available on the website.

• We're starting a project with the Padworth recycling center to put hives into conservation land there.

• Launching beekeeping training via The Honey Bee Academy a project we set up a little while ago.