Found in the Orleans House Gallery Shop!

Learn more about the artists, makers and producers that are featured in our gallery shop. Today’s post looks at Fiona Dickson, who provides Richmond Park honey.

Fiona has been keeping bees since 1981 – and in Richmond Park since the early 90s. She is a British Bee-Keepers’ Association Senior Honey Judge, with a remarkable knowledge of bees and the production of honey.

The number of hives in the ancient Royal Park is strictly controlled, resulting in a limited quantity of honey for sale, so we count ourselves lucky at the gallery that we are among a relatively small number of outlets able to offer this product for sale to our visitors.

Fiona’s Richmond Park hives are kept in a protected site well away from public view, to allow the bees to get on with the job of producing delicious, health-giving honey undisturbed. The honey is always different, depending on the weather at any given nectar flow period, but it will often consist of Lime, Hawthorn, Blackberry, Chestnut, Sycamore and other minor sources.

It should also be remembered that local honeys are said to be effective in counteracting hay fever symptoms, and when possible Fiona offers a pollen-enriched variety of honey, although the gallery generally offers a choice of Natural Honey, Set Honey and Chunk Honey in either a large or small size.