Not Just for Winnie-the-Pooh

Many have said it; many practice it: Beekeeping is good for body and soul. Dick Sheridan is one of those folks—this is his 29th season keeping bees. He got started by taking a class with the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association and devotes his weekends and spare time to the bees. His day job is as a maintenance mechanic for a manufacturer in Massachusetts. He used to get 90% of his bees through the winter but with the mite problem that has attacked New England bees in the last 15-plus years, he now gets roughly 50% and has to replenish the hives each spring. The honey at Sheridan Apiaries is not pasteurized or filtered, and thus the helpful enzymes (for many a home remedy) have not been destroyed. Dick never uses pesticides, which can be harmful to the bees. He understands his customers’ interest in local honey—its raw unadulterated flavor has earned a fan base. He sells right from his driveway on Sundays, in Dick’s words, “good mood and good weather permitting.” At the farmers’ market, he sells beeswax candles and honeycomb along with several sizes of honey ranging from half-pound to five-pound jars.

Dick Sheridan sells his honey from 180 Tower Hill Rd., North Kingstown, on Sunday afternoons. Call ahead at 401.450.9201. Find him at Fishermen’s Memorial State Park Farmers’ Market, Narragansett, on Sunday mornings through the season.