BHP Ltd was formed in 1995 by three of Britain's larger
commercial bee farmers. Its aim has always been to market high quality
home produced honey in bulk (30lb buckets or 300kg barrels).
More recently, one of the founding directors, Ged Marshall, has taken
over the running of the business with his wife, Sheila. Consequently
BHP Ltd now incorporates all their business activities.
These include , pollination services
and jarred honey products.
Ged started beekeeping when he was 15, spending a Summer working for a commercial (3,000 hive) operation in France. He got his first hives in the early '80s and went full time in July 1989. Building up the business, focusing on bulk honey production and more recently, queen bee production. He has worked in France, Tenerife, Denmark and at Buckfast Abbey with Brother Adam to help improve his beekeeping. In February 2014 Ged was the first Bee Farmer in the country to be awarded with the status of 'Master Bee Farmer' having reached the highest level in the art, science and craft of bee farming accepted by the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers and the Bee Farmers Association of the United Kingdom. He has achieved professional recognition through the licentiateship of the City and Guilds of London Institute.
As well as this, Ged has served on the Bee Farmers Association committee for 12 years and in 2017 he was elected chairman of the board of directors. He worked on the Honey Working Party in Brussels, becoming vice-chairman of the group representing all European beekeepers in meetings with the EU Commission. He has also served on the Bee Health Advisory Panel run by the governments Ministry of Agriculture and, more recently, was a member of the Healthy Bees Plan set up by FERA (Food and Environmental Research Agency).
Rebecca, Ged and Sheila's daughter, joined the company in April 2011 at the age of 19. She was the first Bee Farming Apprentice to graduate in the UK on The Worshipful Wax Chandlers Apprenticeship Scheme in October 2016.
The majority of her time is focused on rearing Buckfast Queen bees for the company. She has had experience rearing queens at Buckfast Denmark with Keld Brandstrup, chairman for the Danish Association of Commercial Beekeepers and rearing thousands of Queens for Alpine Honey Co in New Zealand. She has also been fortunate enough to have spent time researching Manuka Honey Production with NZ Honey Co in South Island New Zealand. She has worked with honey bees in Western Australia in the south of Perth researching Jarrah Honey Production, Pollination of Almond Orchards in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, and Urban Bee keeping in Sydney East Australia.
Our bees are regularly used in the media because of their excellent temperament, we have worked with Angela Rippon, Mark Wogan (Terry's son), John Craven (Countryfile), various news items including James Naughtie, Jules Botfield, Chris Evans, Ainsley Harriott (Ready Steady Cook & Great British Food Revival), Stefan Gates (Food Factory, out 2012) and many others.
