Beekeeping Gift Experience in London

Beekeeping Gift Experience in London

Give someone the chance to get into beekeeping — properly, hands-on, with real hives. Hiver runs beginner-friendly beekeeping experiences in London and the Sussex countryside, from a one-hour taster to a full afternoon with beer and honey tasting. No suit of their own, no experience, no idea where to start: all of that's sorted. They just show up.

From £45 per person, available as an open-dated gift voucher so they can pick the day themselves.

Why a beekeeping experience makes a great gift

Most gifts get used once and forgotten. This one gets talked about for years — it's hands-on, a bit unexpected, and gives the recipient a genuine new skill rather than another object. It suits almost any occasion: a birthday, an anniversary, Christmas, a thank-you, or just "you'd love this."

• Hands-on from the start — suited up and handling a real frame within minutes, not just watching through glass

• No experience or equipment needed — everything required is provided

• Pairs learning with tasting — honey and, in the longer sessions, craft beer made with Hiver's own honey

• Works for individuals, couples, or small groups

• Flexible gift voucher — the recipient picks their own date

Choose their gift experience

Beekeeping Taster with Honey Tasting — suit up, inspect a real hive, and learn the basics from an expert beekeeper, finishing with a honey tasting. The lowest-commitment way to find out if beekeeping is for them.

London Beekeeping and Beer Tasting — a hands-on hive inspection followed by a tutored tasting of Hiver's honey beers, a short walk from Kennington and Oval, and close to Borough Market and Maltby Street.

Rural Beekeeping and Beer Tasting — the same hands-on hive session set in the Sussex countryside at Albourne Estate, with the option to add a vineyard tour.

What's included

Every experience includes:

• The use of a full beekeeping suit and gloves (closed shoes and ankle-covering socks needed — shorts and skirts are fine underneath the suit)

• A guided look at how a beehive and the bee life cycle work

• Hands-on frame handling and hive inspection

• A tutored tasting — honey on its own, or honey plus Hiver's beers on the longer experiences — with nibbles

• An expert beekeeper host throughout

Beekeeping sessions run April to September, Saturdays only, with new dates released monthly to weekly through spring and summer; tastings run year-round. On very wet days, the session switches to building a hive and exploring bee by-products indoors instead.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy this as a gift? Yes. Every experience is available as a gift voucher with an open date, so the recipient books their own session. Vouchers can be purchased here.

Do they need any beekeeping experience? No. All three experiences are designed for complete beginners — an expert beekeeper guides the whole session.

What should they wear? Closed shoes and socks that cover the ankles. Shorts and skirts are fine, as they go under the provided beekeeping suit. The suit and gloves are supplied.

Can they bring their own food if they have allergies? The beer contains wheat, and the food pairings may contain wheat, lactose, and traces of nuts. Anyone with a severe allergy is welcome to bring their own snacks.

When are experiences available? Hands on beekeeping sessions run April to September on Saturdays, and our winter experience is from October to March. Dates are released monthly to weekly through spring and summer and fill up quickly.

Can a booking be rescheduled? Bookings made more than two weeks ahead can be changed once, free of charge. Changes aren't possible inside the two-week window.

What happens if it rains? On very wet days, the session moves indoors to focus on building a hive and bee by-products instead of visiting the live hives.

How do they redeem a gift voucher? The voucher code provided can be used directly on our website or you can contact experiences@hiverbeers.com if you need help.

What past guests say

"We loved it! Thanks so much 💛 One of the best experiences we've ever had." — @travelwith.style_, Instagram

"We did the bee keeping and beer tasting experience and it was such a lovely afternoon. The bee talk and bee keeping part was very interesting and I also learned a lot about bees. This is then followed by some beer tasting with one of the beers being made from the honey produced there. I cannot recommend this enough!" — @shinny_d, Tripadvisor

"We had two amazing facilitators guiding us through the afternoon. Our beekeeper gave us careful safety advice and made sure we were gowned up to visit the hives — all equipment was provided. She was incredibly knowledgeable and a great communicator. We learned a lot and felt safe at all times." — @701helenp, Tripadvisor

"The tour was absolutely brilliant — the bee hive experience was mind boggling & the beer tasting educational & fun." — CK, Tripadvisor

Give the gift of a new hobby

Pick a date now, or buy an open-dated voucher and let them choose. All three experiences run in and around London, book up fast between April and September, and make a gift that's actually used — not left in a drawer.

Book a beekeeping gift experience →

You might also like

Prefer something you drink rather than wear a suit for? Hiver also runs a Cider Experience Gift in London — a guided tasting through the UK's best ciders, or a hands-on cider-making workshop. There's also a hands-on Honey Harvesting Workshop, where guests extract and jar their own raw honey. All make a great (and the cider and honey options naturally gluten-free) alternative gift.