Hagens Heroes

Allow us to introduce Hagen’s Heroes!

Here at Hagen's Bees, we are bringing together a group of passionate beekeepers from across the UK, to share their honest experiences with a variety of top-quality beekeeping products over the year. Our carefully selected group of Heroes will receive a range of beekeeping essentials to try out, review, and share with the community.

Once the reviews come in, we’ll showcase them across our social media platforms and on our website to help fellow beekeepers make informed decisions about the best products for their hives. Together, we’re creating a buzz around the tools and products that help beekeepers and their wonderful honeybees thrive. Join the hive and be a part of the Hagen’s Heroes movement—where great products meet even greater feedback!

ESTHER - LONDON

Esther has been a beekeeper since 2010, when she trained with Urban Bees as part of the Plan Bee project run by The Co-Op. She keeps honey bees on her allotment in London. Esther is also an actor, writer and creative producer. She has performed in theatre, film and television roles and has also written a comedy for radio; 'The Allotment', which was about her bees and beekeeping. She presents 'Queen Bees Podcast' with her best friend and actor, Jane Horrocks for Hattrick Productions.

Esther presents bee-spoke bee-related workshops and talks that are both informative and entertaining. She has delivered talks at The Hive in Kew Gardens, Somerset House, The RAF Club as well as St Ermin's and Ham Yard Hotels. She has run workshops for various groups including school children, refugees and end of life patients. She is also a keen gardener, working in an urban community garden in London where she has created an urban meadow with volunters. In 2024 the garden won a gold medal in Islington in Bloom. Her 'Life in the Hive talk ' is a fun and informative insight into what goes on in a honey bee's world. No spoilers! You can follow Esther's adventures here!

DEREK - ARGYLL & BUTE

Hi, I'm Derek and I live on the west coast of Scotland in a small village called Ardfern with my lovely wife Lynn. I was a chef before I "retired" but my focus now is becoming as self sufficient as we possibly can. This coming season will be our third season keeping bees and we're (un)reliably told this will be the honey year!? Fingers crossed! It's wet here. Very wet!

As well as bees we grow our own veg, keep chickens and have a small flock of soay sheep which I'm sure will feature in my videos as they are very inquisitive/ always thinking I'm going to feed them.

With regards to bee keeping I still regard myself as a bit of a novice so you can expect me to get things a bit wrong from time to time but hopefully I can also show would be bee keepers that it's a very rewarding hobby and with a little bit of reading and hands on experience, anyone can do it! I often say that even if I got zero honey, (which isn't much below the reality so far) I'd still keep bees. They are so fascinating and a joy to be around.......mostly!! 

GAEL - FIFE

Beginning work in the live music industry working with bands such as Oasis, REM and Prince, Gael left our shores for a number of years living in Europe, the Middle East and South America. After backpacking with a 5 year old around India she returned to her home in Fife, Scotland where she started a hospitality marketing business.

One of her clients had some beehives and the moment she looked under the lid she was hooked! Starting with a single brightly painted hive Gael now manages 6 apiaries (all on pesticide free land) with another 2 new sites planned for this year and has created a thriving award winning honey brand. With a ‘bees first’ motto collaboration has always been a huge element of her business ethos and she now works with over a dozen local and international companies supporting their eco goals while mentoring new beekeepers and managing hives for busy people.

Being a canny Scot she’s always looking for quality tools and products at the right price and really looking forward to being a product tester for Hagens through the bee season ahead. Watch out for her honest feedback! You can follow Gael's adventures here!

DANIEL AND ALICE - NORTH YORKSHIRE

I’m Daniel! I’m originally from Romania, where I was first introduced to beekeeping as a child, growing up next door to my grandad, an avid beekeeper with over 130 hives.

Now living in North Yorkshire with my fiancée, Alice, and working full-time as an engineer, I found my way back to beekeeping as a hobby after unexpectedly being offered a swarm while visiting another beekeeper’s hives.

Like many beekeepers, we soon found ourselves with more honey than we could eat, and Welburn Honey House was born. Since then, we’ve expanded our range to include beeswax candles and crochet bees, all handmade by us. We’ve built a website and started attending local markets, sharing our passion with the wider community.

Our goal is simple: to keep enjoying our bees and producing honest, handcrafted products we’re proud of.

You can follow Daniel and Alice's journey on instagram here and have a look at their website!

TAMSIN - CORNWALL

I'm a Cornish beekeeper with around a 100 colonies, hived in both Nationals and Langstroths and am based in the far west of the county. I took my BBKA basic exam in 1998 and initally lived with my few, very forgiving, colonies. My competence and confidence gradually grew enough for me to expand my set up and become a commercial beekeeper and since then I haven't looked back.

The summer months are spent working my bees, primarily for honey production, which can be challenging as we have no Spring crop to speak of and no monoclutures this far down in the county. With the honey comes the by-product of beeswax, and I spend a great deal of the winter months making products with that wax. I'm a huge fan of Hagens top quality candle moulds and put them to good use in my candle making workshops.

I also have been very fortunate in the "off season" to work for BJ Sherrif and participate, at home and abroad, in many beekeeping trade shows. This has been a great way to meet other like-minded people and to see new and innovative equipment.

I strive to constantly learn more about my trade and the all important honey bee and love to share this by giving talks and workshops to whoever will listen!

JAMES - HAMPSHIRE

Hello! I’m James, and I began my beekeeping journey in 2024, along with my wife Marie. We wanted to explore something completely different, so we chose to focus not on honey, but on all the incredible benefits honeybees provide. This led us to create Open Hive, a community-based charity dedicated to giving back to our communities. Our honeybees have a unique role in promoting well-being and mental health. They help individuals reconnect with nature, offering a break from screens and the stresses of everyday life. Through our rehabilitation services, we provide purpose and mentorship, helping people refocus and regain their sense of direction. Education is a cornerstone of our mission. We teach children and adults of all ages about the vital importance of our pollinators and their role in our ecosystem. After visiting Moldova in 2023 and witnessing extreme poverty firsthand, we decided to dedicate some of our colonies to help alleviate this issue. These colonies produce surplus honey, which is jarred and sold, with the profits directed toward charitable projects through the remarkable organization Hope4. When you open a beehive, you’re greeted by a beautiful chaos—a fascinating glimpse into the complex life of honeybees. We capture this experience and witness the profound effect that inspecting a honeybee colony for the first time has on our visitors.
Website: Open Hive
Instagram: openhivebeekeeping

NICK & KIRSTY - LINCOLNSHIRE

I'm Nick. I work full time, have a 10 year old son, who doesn't like bees, and I am trying to build myself a business from bees along with my wife Kirsty.

I'm lucky to retire in only 4 years and I'm hoping to use my bees to build a little business to supplement my income. I have around 50 colonies of bees currently and undertake some migrational beekeeping taking bees to rape, borage and, for the first time in 2025, heather.

In the next 4 years I aim to have around 100 colonies to start my business. I also aim to help and support new Beekeepers as I understand how bewildering beekeeping is to beginners. We've all been there so I hope to demystify some of the nonsense I hear spoken!

Follow Nick and Kirsty's journey here and have a look on their website!

SAM - LEEDS

Hi there! My name is Sam Taylor, I am a NHS Project Manager living in Leeds and I am in my third year of beekeeping. I have two hives and one nucleus colony currently in my back garden but I have plans to expand that number to four hives. I am planning to set up an additional apiary at my local allotment which all things being well will have four hives by the end of the 2025 beekeeping season. Because I am still new to beekeeping, I am always open to new ways of doing things and new products to try out. I am looking forward to sharing my experience of Hagen's products as a Hagen Hero in the hopes of helping anyone who is also fairly new to beekeeping and wants to try something different for their bees.


You can follow Sam's journey here!