Bee Here Now: The Welsh farm bringing in the honey for M&S

A bee farm in Aberystwyth is buzzing after becoming a premier supplier to retail giant Marks & Spencer – and an award-winning environmental success story.

Beekeeper David Wainwright, co-founder of the award-winning Wainwright’s Bee Farm team, has been a supplier to M&S for more than a decade. David and his team work continuously to ensure they produce quality honey for M&S customers across the UK.

But his story is not just of a commercial success, but a success for nature also.

Based in west Wales, David makes sheltered apiaries for his hives in unused corners of fields across many farms in Wales and England. He uses traditional cedar wood beehives, many of which date back to the 1930s. Each hive is carefully positioned to maximise sunlight, shelter from wind, and access to nearby water—creating the perfect conditions for thriving bee colonies.

From David’s hives, the bees fan out to forage a remarkable range of nectar sources across the countryside, from dandelions and wildflowers to bluebells, apple and pear orchards, sycamore, hawthorn, gooseberries, blackcurrants and beans. The combination of flowers at each apiary is different, so the honey from each apiary has a different taste and a different colour. All these honeys are kept separate, not blended, so that all these diverse flavours are there to be explored.

In the evening, after working all day gathering nectar, the bees work all night converting the nectar into honey by fanning with their wings, reducing moisture and concentrating the nectar into honey. It’s a process rooted in 80 million years of evolution, based on mutual benefit to plants and insects and the natural rhythm of the land. As newcomers, us humans bring our contribution by planting orchards and fields with crops the bees and other insects pollinate.

The apiaries are situated on many M&S Select Farms where fruits, berries and field crops are grown that will be filling the M&S shelves at harvest time. The farmers on the Select Farms make their farms bee friendly by planting edges of fields with flowers, reducing pesticides and keeping biodiverse hedges and corners. The bees thrive in these environments.

Wainwright’s Bee Farm works closely with M&S Select Farms to create habitats that support not only honeybees but also a diverse range of wild pollinators, including bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. Efforts to support wild pollinators include planting native wildflowers along field margins, preserving biodiverse hedgerows, and minimising pesticide use. These practices aim to enhance biodiversity and ensure that both managed and wild pollinators can thrive.

David’s journey began in the 1970s with just two hives. Today, he oversees more than 2,000 hives across West Wales and England, each one a testament to generations of care and craftsmanship.

In a recent Taste Test, this M&S Select Farm honey was judged the best tasting on the High Street, the only one to be awarded 5 stars. Wainwright’s Bee Farm was also recently awarded the Welsh Food Producer of the Year award in 2025.

David Wainwright, Beekeeper and Founder of Wainwright’s Bee Farm, said: “It’s a real privilege to be part of M&S’s Select Farms, and we’re incredibly proud of the work we do together. Over the past decade, our partnership has flourished, and we’re thrilled to showcase the distinctive techniques behind our delicious products.

“What we do differently is to keep each small farm batch separate, not blended, which tastes much better! Every step of our process is rooted in craftsmanship and care, and we’re committed to delivering the highest quality for M&S customers. We hope people enjoy this little insight into the dedication that goes on behind the scenes.”

He added: “Our bees form part of the natural community of diverse pollinators. Each species has its role. The honeybees focus on the plants that produce an inexhaustible supply of nectar, on rare occasions. The rest of the time the worker bees stay at home resting.”

Allison Jenkins, Regional Manager for M&S in South Wales said: “At M&S, our unwavering commitment to quality is what truly sets us apart—and it’s a value shared across our trusted network of suppliers.

“In Wales, we’re proud to nurture long-standing relationships with our Select Farms, working hand-in-hand to deliver the very best for our customers through innovation and care. Our collaboration with David and the team is a fantastic example of that ethos in action.”

M&S works with more than 9,000 Select Farmers across the UK – including 2,500 across Wales – to deliver food produced to the highest possible sourcing standards for its 30m customers.

M&S have been working with technology business AgriSound since 2022 to help a number of its Select Farm partners track the number of wild pollinators visiting their farm, allowing them to make nature-friendly interventions such as wildflower planting to improve biodiversity.