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THE JOURNAL | FOOD & DRINK

Meet the Maker:
Bermondsey Street Bees

Meet Dale Gibson and Sarah Wyndham Lewis of Bermondsey Street Bees and discover what sets this small British honey supplier apart.

Not all honey is made equal. And no one knows this better than Sarah Wyndham Lewis and Dale Gibson, the passionate and incredibly knowledgeable founders of Bermondsey Street Bees, whose single-source English honey can be found across our bars and restaurants in London.

A Bologna-trained Honey Sommelier and a highly experienced beekeeper, respectively, Sarah and Dale champion small-scale honey production and traditional beekeeping methods – an approach that’s not only sustainable but good for the bees too. 

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Dale and Sarah at their home in Maldon, Essex, where they process the honey and keep a number of their hives. 

What’s more, their honey has real flavour – each single-source jar a story of the land, with its own character and terroir – a stand against the highly-processed and homogenised honey that is, unfortunately, so readily available.

"Honey is amongst the most regularly adulterated foodstuffs on earth; trans-shipped, blended, processed, and anonymised", says Dale. "Our customers come to us for authenticity, provenance, and exceptional flavours."

And their honey is widely regarded as some of the best in the industry, regularly sweeping the table at the National Honey Show, Great British Food Awards and the Great Taste Awards to win medals and 'best in show'. There's no doubt that these two know what they are talking about when it comes to honey. 

How do you know it’s real honey if you don’t know the beekeeper?  

Dale Gibson, Founder, Bermondsey Street Bees

Originally London rooftop beekeepers based in Bermondsey, Sarah and Dale have since moved to Maldon in coastal Essex, where across 4 acres they are developing an organic, regenerative habitat for their bees with clever planting for all types of pollinators, a thriving kitchen garden, and all-important wilderness areas. 

Their apiaries are dotted across the South East, from the grounds of Lambeth Palace to London's rewilded docklands and an ancient walled garden in Essex, surrounded by wild flower meadows and tangled hedgerows. These unique locations are all carefully chosen for one thing: rich, varied forage, far from monoculture farmland.

It's on this subject that Sarah is particularly passionate - so much so that she has written two beautifully illustrated and incredibly informative books filled with practical tips on gardening and planting for bees and other key pollinators - something that we can all support, even with only a windowsill to work with. Below you'll find 8 bee-friendly flowers that Sarah grows in her own garden.

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Left to right: Sarah and Dale's bees hard at work at their apiary in Essex; wild flowers flourish in a nearby meadow, providing plenty of variety for local pollinators. 

8 Bee-Friendly Flowers to Grow

by Sarah Wyndham Lewis

Whether you have a window box or rolling acres, planting for pollinators is one of the most important things any of us can do to support biodiversity. 

With around 270 species of bee in Britain alone (of which the honeybee is just one), it’s great to choose these simple, semi-wild types of plant which feed multiple insect types; wasps, hoverflies, bluebottles and even some types of beetle are essential pollinators too.   

Left to Right: 1. Cat mint (Nepeta) | 2. Ornamental Onion (Allium) | 3. Bugleweed (Ajuga) | 4. Dog rose (Rosa canina) | 5. Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) | 6. Pincushions (Scabiosa) | 7. Cranesbill (Geranium) | 8.  Rosemary (Salvia Rosmarinus) 

You’ll notice that the plants featured here are predominantly pink/purple. That’s because the majority of insects see in the ultraviolet spectrum, so these colours attract them most.  Another key tip is to plant in multiples. Nature-mimicking ‘clumps’ of the same species of flowers will really sing out to passing pollinators. 

Sarah is the author of two best-selling books: Planting For Honeybees and The Wild Bee Handbook.

Firmdale's Executive Head Chef, Joe Fox, has worked with Sarah and Dale for more than a decade, and their honey - sustainably produced, British-made, and low in food miles - is a natural fit for Firmdale's philosophy. As a trained beekeeper himself, Joe knows the importance of their approach to making honey, and you'll find it woven throughout our menus, from Crispy Wensleydale with London honey and chilli at Brumus to Bermondsey honey-glazed pork belly at Refuel.