MY COUNTRY PASSION Beekeeping

Julie Macken lives on a seven-acre smallholding in rural Oxfordshire with her family. She finds keeping bees deepens her connection to nature and the seasons

- TARA KING

When my husband Ross and I first moved to West Oxfordshire, we had the delight of dragging two bored children around various houses to find somewhere to live. It was in one of these houses that my daughter Neve, who was nine at the time, spotted a large stack of glass jars. The owner explained that she was a beekeeper and the jars were for storing honey. Neve was fascinated. ‘I would like a beehive from Grandad for my birthday,’ she said. He duly obliged, and from this one hive, we’ve developed a thriving apiary and become part of the most wonderful beekeeping community.