A high-flying businessman has swapped his glamourous life in Dubai for beekeeping in south east England after buying land to create green space in his local community. Khalid Undrie, 57, was an interior designer and owner of a property development company.
He purchased the land in Harrow, north London, in 2010 on his return from the lavish United Arab Emirates city, complete with a luxurious villa, personal driver and maid. Khalid, who lives at the London property with his wife Anjum, 56, a teacher, and four children, Anisah, 31, Zahrah, 26, Uzayr, 20, and Amina, 19, stumbled upon beekeeping by chance.
His plan with the land was to create a ‘food forest’ which is an environment of diverse and edible plants. After initially installing two hives, Khalid’s love for his hobby grew.
He soon found his millionaire and billionaire friends were “excited” for him to bring his homemade honey along to their high-end events. Spurred on by the interest, he began selling his honey in 2017.
He now has around 300 beehives and hopes to have 500 by the end of next year. Khalid said: “It’s really not about the money for me.
"If anything, a trip to check on my hives wastes half a working day and is not financially beneficial. For me, the motivation is knowing that my hives are benefitting the surrounding natural environment.”
For Khalid, beekeeping became a hobby when he bought the plot of land on his return to the UK in 2010. His work contract had ended and he decided to move home.
“I’d just come back from Dubai to north London and had a bit of money. So I bought some land that wasn’t being used for anything,” he said.
“It was lined with chestnut trees, and I thought it would be nice to turn it into a garden for future generations to enjoy.” Khalid began by planting fruit trees and shrubs on the land.
He said: “It occurred to me that I needed to get a beehive to pollinate the plants.” Attending a two-day beekeeping course with The Beekeeping Association, Khalid bought two hives for his land.
“I was hooked from the course. Bees seemed fascinating,” he said.
He added: “Each hive has around 20,000 bees. They are so intelligent, they won’t enter a hive other than their own and, if a bee were to try to enter the wrong hive, the other bees would stop them.
“If they find a good spot to pollinate, they’ll share the coordinates with other bees in the hive so they can find it too. They are fascinating creatures.”
Beekeeping was not something Khalid envisioned for his future while living and working in Dubai. “I was in Dubai up until 2010 and I was living the classic ex-pat lifestyle over there,” he said.
“It was very glamourous and I spent a lot of my free time scuba diving off the coast. The weather was idyllic, I often didn’t even need a wetsuit, just a tank and a pair of shorts.”
On his return to London, Khalid wanted to put his money into something for his local community. He said: “I really wanted a green space for the next generation to enjoy.”
He added: “I paid close attention to the nutrition I gave the plants and the bees acted as a natural pollinator.” Within two years of beekeeping, Khalid added an additional four hives to his land.
He said: “There was plenty of space to add more hives, so I thought, why not? I love bee farming and started giving honey away to friends and family."
"I was blown away by the response.” Khalid’s honey was suddenly in high demand.
He said: “I have friends who are millionaires and billionaires. So for them to be so appreciative of something as simple as a pot of homemade honey really meant a lot.”
He added: “I would attend events and people would know I’d be bringing some honey with me and they’d be excited about it. It got me thinking that I could turn it into a business.”
Khalid began selling his honey in 2017 and now has around 300 hives. “We’re expanding rapidly and hope to have 500 hives by next year,” he said.
“They’re dotted around 12 different locations in London and it really is a labour of love.” Khalid's family have yet to catch the beekeeping bug.
He said: “They often complain to me because I end up bringing equipment and empty beehive boxes home with me. I even got an extension built on the house for extra space for me to store things in.”
Khalid said his focus now is on educating children about beekeeping. “I go to schools with my hives and talk to kids about beekeeping,” he said.
“We involve them in school projects in order to educate and get them engaged in the importance of bees.” The keen beekeeper added that 12 years since he traded in the high life in Dubai, he is proud of the new natural world he has created.
“It’s been 12 years since I first started planting on the land I bought and now, it’s a beautiful space. The trees have started to form a canopy.
"The flowers are bright and we have since built three large ponds with islands in the middle so that birds can lay their eggs away from foxes. I’m really proud of the natural environment I’ve created and I’m looking forward to watching it continue to thrive.”
For more information visit rawhoney.co.uk.
