About us

Our Aims

Educate in Honey Sensory Analysis

The Honey Guild will support a programme of Honey Sensory Analysis training in the UK with standards and quality aligned to the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis.

Define UK Honey Varieties

The members of the Honey Guild of the UK will work to characterise the different honey varieties of the United Kingdom by organoleptic, physio-chemical and microscopic methods.

Promote Honey as a Fine Food

The Honey Guild of the United Kingdom is committed to the promotion of Honey as a Fine Food. The Guild will work to raise the profile of Honey across the UK by the development of a Honey Culture through education, honey tasting with accredited Guild Experts, and outreach to communities.

Our Board

Gino Jabbar

Chairman

Dr Gino Jabbar is a Physicist, Bee Farmer, and Honey Sensory Analyst based in Edinburgh. Simply Honey produces multi-award winning honey from bees kept in the City of Edinburgh and the surrounding Lothians regions. He is a Scottish Expert Bee Master and a Member of the prestigious Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey.

He is an International Honey Judge for The London International Honey Awards (Global Honey Varieties), Le Concours De Miels de France ( The French National Honey Awards), Tre Gocce D’Oro Grandi Mieli D’Italia (The Italian National Honey Awards), Biol Miel (International Organic Honey Awards) and The Great Taste Awards. He is also a keen supporter of traditional UK Honey Shows exhibiting at The Royal Highland Show and the National Honey Show in London. 

He is actively involved with Honey education, and contributes to new science as a member of the International Honey Commission. He serves as a trustee for the The Scottish Beekeepers’ Association  and is also the director with responsibility for Scotland for the Bee Farmers Association.


Helen Rogers

Secretary

Helen Rogers is based in London and is a Structural Engineer, specialising in cantilever stone stairs. She owns Highgate Honey, a beekeeping business with hives all around North London and has kept bees since 2012. She runs the training apiary for North London Beekeepers and runs regular honey tasting workshops.

After experiencing the incredible range of honey that her hives produced, she began her Honey Sensory Analysis training in Bologna in 2019. She is a judge for Great Taste Awards and The London International Honey Awards.

Helen is the author of 80 Flowers for Bees, and serves as a director for Beecraft Magazine.


Rebecca Beveridge

Treasurer & Membership

Rebecca Beveridge lives in Lincolnshire and has a business background in property and commerce. She has kept bees for over a decade in several counties of the UK, but now has around 30 colonies in apiaries located in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, where she runs New Lodge Vineyard near Earls Barton. 

She produces honey, mead and balms under her business Made by the Beekeeper that has won numerous national trophies and awards:  Beauty Bible, Beauty Shortlist, Free From, Great Taste, Weetabix Food & Drink and Wine GB, among others.   Rebecca started her training in Honey Sensory Analysis in Bologna in 2020 with the Italian Ministry of Agriculture (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics), Italy being the first country to establish formal training in honey sensory analysis and enjoys sharing her passion for bees and honey through the beekeeping, honey and wine tasting experiences she offers.  She has also been invited to judge at the Frankfurt International Trophy.

When not running the vineyard, beekeeping or making products, which takes up most of her time, Rebecca enjoys shooting, bellringing and tennis.

Our Advisors

Sarah Wyndham Lewis

Sarah Wyndham Lewis is a professional Honey Sommelier. She works internationally, principally within the Hospitality industry connecting Chefs and Bartenders with local artisan beekeepers.

Co-founder of the multi-award-winning beekeeping practice Bermondsey Street Bees, she is a food judge, a member of The Guild of Food Writers, active within the Slow Food movement and a Patron of the charity Bees Abroad.

Writing and speaking widely on honey, sustainable food production and bee biodiversity, Sarah is also the author of two books; Planting for Honeybees and The Wild Bee Handbook.

Lynne Ingram

Lynne Ingram is a Master Beekeeper and holder of the prestigious National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB).

She is the chair of the Honey Authentication Network UK, an organisation campaigning for greater public awareness of honey adulteration. Lynne is working with several universities on novel science and technology solutions to authenticate honey.

She is the owner of Wesley Cottage Bees in Somerset, and an active member of the Somerset beekeeping community where she is involved in educating beekeepers, running study groups, contributing to the British Beekeepers’ Association exam board, and curating the popular Somerset Lecture series.

Gian Luigi Marcazzan

Gian Luigi Marcazzan is the leader of the Honey Sensory group within the International Honey Commission and the President of the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey . He has been a researcher and technical manager for honey quality control by chemical and sensory analysis at the Agricultural Research council in Bologna for 27 years. Gian Luigi has served as a panel leader for the International honey competition Biol Miel.

Raffaele Dall’Olio

Raffaele Dall’Olio is a beekeeper and animal biologist with a master’s degree in honey bee pathogen diagnostics, skilled in Instrumental insemination of honey bee queens. He has more than 10 years experience in honey bee research and teaching focussing on genetic conservation of honey bee races, detection of pathogens and viruses and improving quality in beekeeping products. He’s a member of the international research networks COLOSS and RNSBB. Raffaele has Bee Farming experience with 150 hives in Tuscany, queen rearing, and Manuka honey in New Zealand. Raffaele is the owner of Bee Sources a beekeeping consultancy business offering practical beekeeping, technical assistance, general consultancy, scientific research, and Honey Sensory Training. He is an internationally sought after speaker with talks at Apimondia and EurBee European Congress of Apidology. Since 2005 he has been practicing and teaching Honey Tasting as a panel leader for the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey.

Our Governance

Memorandum and Articles of Association