From garden hives to community staple: the rise of Canalside Honey
By Deborah Bowyer 20th Jul 2025
A Church Lawton bee keeper is tasting the sweet smell of success after her husband decided to start keeping bees.
Gill Cain runs Canalside Honey with her husband Mick from their home which overlooks the Macclesfield Canal. It's Bees' Needs Week this week so Alsager Nub News went along to find out more about bee keeping.
The couple now have around 11 hives, two of which are in their garden and the others in nearby countryside and are now hooked on the coveted art of bee keeping.
Members of the British Beekeepers Association, Gill has built up an envious amount of knowledge about the insects. Beekeeping is a major part of their home.
"My husband said he wanted to start keeping bees a while back," said Gill. "It's such a great thing to do and you can literally taste the difference and colour based on what the bees have been eating.
"Borage is something like like but they also like dandelions and hawthorn. They don't sting unless they see you as a threat."
And as Gill explained, bees are clever in that they don't venture out of the hive unless it's 14 degrees or more outside.
"They're so clever and do a waggle dance in the hive to show other bees the direction lof where the food is."
The mother-of-three is a familiar sight at local events at Rode Heath Village Hall and elsewhere selling Canalside Honey which retails at £6 a jar.
"You can buy cheaper honey but you don't know what's in it. It's so interesting and we love doing this," said Gill.
At the moment, Gill doesn't have here own protective bee suit unlike her husband but it's something she's considering getting.
"I've learnt a lot over the years since we started keeping them," she said. "The knowledge just builds up."
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