What started out as a hobby to help Scott get out of the house and recuperate from his injury quickly grew into a business, with local shops happily snapping up his jars of homemade Welsh honey. With any work as a labourer ruled out, Scott had happened upon a totally different career path, and began his mission to make quality honey more readily available across the UK. This meant not only increasing the number of hives at his home in Newtown, Powys, but seeking out beekeepers in other parts of the world who shared his passion. ‘We have between forty and fifty beehives locally, from which we solely produce our very sought-after Welsh blossom honey,’ says Scott. ‘These are proudly managed by our head beekeeper – my dad! To produce the rest of our vast and diverse range of products we work with beekeepers who share our values and pass our strict quality, certification and taste tests.’

In the seven years since Scott became the proud owner of his first hive, Hilltop Honey has quickly become known for producing and sourcing some of the best honey available in all the major supermarkets. As well as the Welsh blossom honey his father creates, he sources heather honey from Scotland; heads to Spain for orange blossom, lavender and thyme honeys; gets eucalyptus honey from Uruguay; seeks out the very best Manuka honey from New Zealand and imports the famous Yucatan honey from Mexico (among many others).

It’s not just honey that Scott sources either; bee pollen and pieces of cut honeycomb are proving popular too. ‘It’s difficult to harvest cut comb as it’s such a labour-intensive process,’ says Scott. ‘It’s down to the bees to create the delicious hexagonal shapes, but it’s up to the humans to decide on the right frame to use in the hive before cutting it up and packaging it. When it comes to pollen, different bees have different roles within the hive, and certain bees will also pick up pollen as well as nectar whilst out foraging. They keep this pollen in little baskets on their hind legs called corbicula. When they return to the hive to deposit their nectar, the filled corbicula mean the bees are too big to get into the entrance. This means any excess pollen gets naturally knocked off and falls onto trays outside the hive, which we can then collect.’

These three ingredients – honey, pollen and honeycomb – are some of the most unique and flavourful products on the planet. Scott wants people to know that the catch-all term ‘honey’ doesn't do justice to the variety and diversity of flavours this incredible stuff contains, as different types of honey can have wildly different characteristics. ‘Each batch of honey is entirely unique, with different aromas, colours, flavours and viscosity,’ he explains. ‘For example, our acacia honey is very light in colour with a mild, sweet flavour, whereas our Manuka honey is amber, dark and herbaceous. Although they both share the name of ‘honey’, they are very, very different.’

While Hilltop Honey sources its honey from all over the world, its signature Welsh blossom honey is still made in Scott’s hometown in Powys, which gives him the chance to continue working with hives – a passion that kick-started his business in the first place. ‘The whole experience of beekeeping allows me to clear my mind and takes me away from all the stress of day-to-day life,’ he says. ‘All my focus goes onto the bees; the noise and sheer volume of them is incredible, which is why I find it so therapeutic. Beekeeping is very hands-on, as you have to make sure they have enough food throughout the seasons and are free from diseases. Ultimately, however, bees have been looking after themselves (and us, by pollinating a variety of crops) for millions of years.’

The best producers are often headed up by incredibly passionate people, and Hilltop Honey is living proof of that. Scott has created a business that not only offers amazing honeys boasting a cacophony of different flavours to the UK; it supports beekeepers and their precious bees in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. So while a Welsh coal yard lost a member of its team seven years ago, the rest of the UK gained the chance to taste proper artisan honey in the process. And for food-lovers everywhere, that is very good news indeed.