From travelling the world with international brands to bee keeping in Dunfermline, Gael Wilkinson is a passionate local honey producer.
Having moved to Spain and lived in both the Middle East and South America while working in the live music industry with bands such as U2 and Oasis in the 90s, Gael (51) took a break and returned to the UK in 2010 to raise her family.
A chance encounter with bees in 2018 saw the entrepreneur launch her own honey business, Kin Bees, which she has continued to grow since its inception.
After four years of growing her apiary Kin Bees to 15 hives with a total investment of more than £15k, Gael is on a mission to encourage others to understand the health benefits of local honey.
Gael explained: “I do marketing for hospitality businesses and had gone to visit a holiday home in Perthshire and spotted some honey on the table.
“The owners told me they had bees and asked if I wanted to look. Next thing I knew I was in a field wearing a bee suit.
“As soon as he lifted up the roof of the hive and I looked inside I was fascinated. It lit something inside me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“So I decided, I’m going to do this.”
Gael first pursued her passion for bee keeping by joining the Dunfermline and West Fife Beekeepers Association and has visited local apiaries to connect with fellow bee keepers.
Despite not participating in any courses on bee keeping, Gael managed to connect with bee keeper John Hoskins who has more than 50 years experience and mentored her initially, giving her the confidence to take the leap in launching her own company.
From fascination to mindful solace
With plans to keep them in her garden, only to realise her husband was allergic, Gael door knocked around her local area until a young farming family agreed to give her an apiary spot on their farm in Crossford on the outskirts of Dunfermline.
She commented: “It grew from there, it started off as a hobby but I just got hooked and I couldn’t stop.”
Now four years on, Gael has plans this year to have her first wild flower meadow across five hectares of land.
She has also noticed the mental health benefits that bee keeping has to offer, describing it as being very mindful and helping with anxiety.
She explained “I go to the apiary for solace, I like being there on my own. I could lose hours just sitting and watching them, I just love it.
“Each hive has a personality which comes from the queen, with each hive being quite different. And that’s before you even get to extracting honey.”
Local honey is the best
Aside from her love of bee keeping, Gael describes her honey as her “bread and butter”, and what takes the business forward allowing her to carry on with her passion.
She states that her honey is “full of antioxidants” and “with anti inflammatory properties it can aid digestive issues.”
A great addition to toast, her customers have also enjoyed adding it to cheeseboards, breakfast dishes, bakes and more.
To get the honey, Gael always waits until the bees have capped the frames (removed the wax cover they put on each sell to keep it fresh) and have plenty in reserve before removing any from the hive.
It is then spun by hand, passed through a sieve and poured into a jar.
Creating a buzz
The 51-year-old is an advocate for promoting real and local honey, and through starting a podcast, Hive Talkin, in March 2021, has managed to connect with bee keepers across the globe.
Gael explained: “Here in Fife, we have so much good forage and I’m always telling people to plant more flowers. We have beautiful honey in Scotland, and I think it’s the best in the world.
“Our honey is just as good as Manuka, if not better, and I’m all about buying traceable honey. I’m not an advocate for supermarket honey, it’s just syrup.”
Through her social media platforms and podcasting she hopes to encourage others to join the bee keeping community, and help educate people on what is best to plant for all natural pollinators including butterflies, bees and moths over the coming months.
Gael sells her honey online through her Kin Bees website, which is primarily available during the honey season from July to late October for £8.50 a jar.
She also has a bee hive sponsor scheme where individuals can sponsor a hive or be a bee parent to help her increase her business further.
