Community

Busy bees at Woodland Cemetery produce record amount of honey for New Year

The two hives at the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS) Woodland Cemetery were introduced in 2024

September 22, 2026 16:27
Rabbi David Hulbert and his wife, Fiona, with the honeycomb at Woodland Cemetery, Cheshunt (Photo: MPJ)
Rabbi David Hulbert and his wife, Fiona, with the honeycomb at Woodland Cemetery, Cheshunt (Photo: MPJ)

A Jewish cemetery in Cheshunt saw in Rosh Hashanah with a record-breaking honey harvest.

The two hives at the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS) Woodland Cemetery were introduced in 2024 by Rabbi David Hulbert, of Brentwood Reform Synagogue and East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue (ELELS), and his wife, Fiona. Two years on, the bees have become a welcome part of the cemetery’s natural landscape.

And this year, they have been especially productive, said the rabbi. “It’s been quite a summer of heat and drought – but that doesn’t seem to have affected the occupants of our two hives.

“Plenty of flowers and nectar close by mean the bees have produced a record harvest to welcome in the New Year, 5787.”

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