Suzanne 'Suzie' Hutchinson PhD
Scientist, Professional Bee Farmer, Entrepreneur & Co-Founder
Suzanne “Suzie” Hutchinson PhD is a scientist, professional bee farmer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Northumberland Honey Company and Hutch Family Honey.
With a PhD in Molecular Nutrition from Newcastle University, Suzie has built an unusual career bringing together science, commercial bee farming, honey bee genetics, product innovation and business.
Together with her husband Luke, Suzie founded Northumberland Honey Company in 2015. Today, she remains a hands-on bee farmer while leading much of the scientific and product-development work behind the business — applying the same curiosity, evidence-led thinking and refusal to compromise that shaped her research career.
From Research Scientist to Professional Bee Farmer
Suzie’s career began in science.
At Newcastle University, she undertook doctoral research in Molecular Nutrition, developing a strong foundation in scientific research, laboratory techniques, genetics and the critical evaluation of evidence.
After meeting Luke in 2011, honey bees increasingly became part of her life. What began as an introduction to beekeeping developed into a fascination with the biology and genetics of bees and, ultimately, an entirely new professional direction.
In 2015, while completing her PhD, Suzie and Luke established Northumberland Honey Company.
Rather than following a conventional academic research career, Suzie took the scientific skills she had developed and applied them to the challenge of building a professional bee farming business.
Today, the Hutch Family manages more than 400 production colonies alongside over 800 mating nuclei, producing around 20 tonnes of honey annually and raising thousands of queen bees each season.
Suzie remains one of the professional bee farmers at the heart of that operation, while also playing a central role in business strategy, product development and innovation.
She may have stepped away from academic research, but science never really left her career. Today, it influences everything from honey bee genetics and selective breeding to cosmetic formulation and understanding the remarkable natural materials produced by the family’s bees.
Science, Genetics & Honey Bee Breeding
One of the areas where Suzie’s scientific background most naturally meets professional beekeeping is honey bee breeding and genetics.
Working alongside Luke, Suzie is involved in the Hutch Family’s substantial queen-rearing and bee-breeding programme, selecting breeding stock from hundreds of colonies and raising thousands of queen bees each season.
Potential breeding colonies are assessed for characteristics including colony health, productivity, temperament, overwintering performance, hygienic behaviour and Varroa-sensitive traits.
Suzie is also involved in the instrumental insemination of queen bees, providing greater control over parentage and selected genetic lines within the breeding programme.
Her scientific background brings a different perspective to this work — combining practical observations from working with colonies with genetics, careful record keeping, selection and evaluation across generations.
For Suzie, it’s science and practical beekeeping working together to continually improve and preserve the bees the family keeps.
Science That Solves Real-World Problems
For Suzie, developing cosmetics isn’t about creating products simply because they look attractive on a shelf.
It starts with a much simpler question:
What do people actually need?
Working daily on a bee farm has given Suzie first-hand experience of dry hands, weather-exposed skin and the effects of constant washing and outdoor work. Conversations with customers have added other everyday challenges — from very dry and sensitive skin to cracked hands, tired feet, dry hair and people struggling to find straightforward products that suit them.
Suzie’s approach is to identify a genuine problem and then use science to develop a product that helps meet that need.
Her formulations begin with understanding what each ingredient actually contributes. Ingredients aren’t included simply because they’re fashionable, sound appealing on a label or make a product easier to market.
At the heart of many of those formulations are two ingredients with exceptional provenance: honey and beeswax produced by the Hutch Family’s own bees.
Because the family produces these ingredients themselves, Suzie can formulate generously with them while working towards another principle that matters to her: high-quality products should remain accessible.
Product development isn’t rushed. A formulation can spend months being researched, adjusted, reformulated and trialled. If it isn’t right, it doesn’t get released simply because a launch date has been set.
Performance comes first.
Customer feedback, repeat purchasing and reviews then provide valuable real-world evidence about how products perform outside the development process.
Suzie’s ambition is to continue developing exceptional products that bring together science, genuine customer need, uncompromising quality, accessible pricing and remarkable natural ingredients produced on the family’s own bee farm.
From our bees to the finished formulation
We raise the bees, harvest the honey and produce the beeswax at the heart of Suzie’s formulations — giving our products provenance right back to the hive.
Sharing Science, Business & Entrepreneurship
Suzie also speaks and lectures on the lessons learned from building a science-led rural business.
Her talks span professional bee farming, product development, science and entrepreneurship, and she has delivered enterprise programmes for local schools, sharing the practical realities of turning an idea into a sustainable business.
For Suzie, entrepreneurship isn’t an abstract concept. It’s the everyday experience of making decisions, solving problems, creating products, managing people, dealing with setbacks and continuing to move a business forward.
As a highly qualified scientist, professional bee farmer and female entrepreneur based in rural Northumberland, Suzie is particularly passionate about showing that innovative and successful businesses don’t have to begin in major cities or conventional industries.
Alongside all of this sits the reality of running a family business with Luke while raising their children — balancing science, bees, business and family life as part of the Hutch Family behind Hutch Family Honey.
Science, Professional & Business Experience
Co-Founder & Director
Northumberland Honey Company / Hutch Family Honey
Professional Bee Farmer
Commercial bee farming, honey production, queen rearing and honey bee breeding
PhD – Molecular Nutrition
Newcastle University
Scientist & Researcher
Scientific research background encompassing molecular nutrition, genetics and ageing
Honey Bee Breeding & Genetics
Queen rearing, colony selection, genetics and breeding programme development
Cosmetic Formulator & Product Developer
Science-led formulation, research and long-term trialling of honey and beeswax cosmetics
Entrepreneur & Business Leader
Co-founder of a growing rural bee farming, food production and manufacturing business
Mead Maker & Product Innovator
Development of premium honey-based drinks using honey produced by the family’s own bees
Speaker, Lecturer & Business Educator
Speaking on science, bee farming, product innovation and entrepreneurship, including delivering enterprise programmes for young people
Meet the family behind Hutch Family Honey
