How does an aircraft engineer become a beekeeper? By learning to adapt to the challenges life throws his way and transferring his passion from one flying object to another.

The idea for an apiary was first planted in Richard Madden’s mind when his position as a flight engineer with a prominent airline was made redundant. On top of the personal sting of losing the job he loved, Richard had to face the fact that the airline industry itself was in a state of flux, and there were few job opportunities in other business sectors that could make use of his highly-specialised training.

However, during this season of unemployment a friend of his suggested that he consider raising bees as a way of making an income. That friend happened to run an apiary in Guyana and Richard’s interest was piqued as he heard more about the process of beekeeping. Eventually, Richard decided to get his feet wet by acquiring some bees and registering with the Kingston and St. Andrew Bee Keepers' Association. With some basic training from the association, some hands-on coaching from an established beekeeper, and a lot of help from YouTube, he began his own apiary. And Golden Glory Honey moved from a dream to a sweet reality.

The apiary’s current yield is not yet able to keep up with the increasing demand from its customers, however, Richard’s experience as a bee-keeper and his understanding of the craft of bee-keeping has given him a discerning eye for quality honey to supplement the current output. This has led to a fruitful partnership with a local supplier, helping to establish Golden Glory as a reliable distributor while the business looks to increase its production capacity. Richard’s passion for the business has him regularly researching ways to innovate around honey and its by-products as Golden Glory sets its sights on becoming the go-to producer and distributor of all things honey.