Boringdon Hall Beekeeping Experience & Honey Afternoon Tea
Boringdon Hall welcomes you for a series of exclusive one-day events which combine hands-on learning with refined indulgence, set within the historic grounds of the Grade I listed manor on the edge of Dartmoor.
Taking place across four dates in May, the experience invites guests to step inside the world of beekeeping during one of the most important months in the apiarist’s calendar. May is a time when colonies grow strong and, depending on weather and forage, begin producing a prized spring honey.
Guests will join Ash, Boringdon Hall’s experienced beekeeper, for a two-hour immersive session at the hotel’s on-site hives. Fully suited in protective clothing, participants will learn how to read bee behaviour, understand the rhythms of a working colony and try their hand at spotting the queen.
No previous beekeeping experience is required, and all equipment — including bee suits and gloves — is provided.
Following the hive visit, guests are invited to unwind in the grandeur of Boringdon’s Great Hall with a honey-inspired afternoon tea, thoughtfully crafted to reflect the natural flavours of the season and created using honey harvested from Boringdon Hall’s own hives.
Monday 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th May | £80 per person
Produced in limited quantities, this exclusive honey is also used within Àcleaf, Boringdon Hall’s MICHELIN-starred restaurant, where it features in dishes of the highest culinary calibre — offering afternoon tea guests a rare opportunity to taste an ingredient normally reserved for one of Devon’s most celebrated dining experiences.
Subtly woven into the experience is the sense of place that defines Boringdon Hall. First recorded in the Domesday Book and thought to take its name from the Saxon “Burth-Y-Don,” meaning “enchanted place on the hill,” the estate has long been shaped by the land around it. It is believed that honey would have been produced here for centuries, making today’s on-site hives a natural continuation of a quietly enduring tradition.