Sunday the 30th November is Museum Shop Sunday, which is the ‘international celebration of cultural retail’ – a fundamental part of sustaining museums today. In the run-up to the occasion, we are running a showcase of the locally made products we sell at Mrs Smith’s Cottage, as well as shouting out about their wonderful makers!
Today’s highlight is all about our jars of honey, which are produced at Brills Hills Apiary, Norton Disney, Lincolnshire, by Melissa and Duncan Lacey.
Duncan has been an avid registered beekeeper for 4 years and is looking forward to Brills Hills Apiary moving into its 4th season in 2026. Duncan started beekeeping at the age of 13, learning the craft with a skilled and experienced local beekeeper for a year before setting up his own apiary with the help and support of his mum, Melissa. Duncan has since spent the last 3 seasons teaching this specialised craft to his mum! Together they maintain and manage the bees in 3 hives to ensure optimum bee health so that they can produce a flavoursome honey ‘made by the bees’.
To produce a jar of honey takes a full 24 hours – from preparing the bees, to collecting and transporting the honey frames, from de-capping and spinning each honey frame, to sieving the honey 3 times, to returning the empty honey frames back to the bees for cleaning, to letting the honey rest over night for 12 hours, to the jarring and labelling process, and then finally to delivering the final product to Mrs Smith’s Cottage.
Rich and golden in colour, locally produced, and only £6.00 for a large jar, we here at the Cottage can’t think of a better way to buy this store-cupboard staple. And our new, limited-edition jars (complete with festive ribbon and mini honey twizzler) would truly make a perfect addition to a D.I.Y. hamper, stocking filler or a tasty gift for friends and family, as well as a sweet addition to your Christmas ham, parsnips, carrots and desserts!
Shopping local is a really great way to connect with your community. Purchases made in our shop directly support local makers and sustain the future of our museum!
Entry to our shop at Mrs Smith’s Cottage is always free of charge, so why not pop in and have a browse? We are open Friday-Monday, 12-4pm. You can find more information about our wonderful venue on our ‘Visit’ page.
See you soon!