Man who is turning Stamford Hill into a real land of milk and honey

Stamford Hill has never been known as a land flowing with milk and honey. But one little corner is just that - Joseph Schneck's back garden.

As far as he is aware, he is the only Charedi bee-keeper in London, selling honey from his hives.

But the bleating in the background also signals other residents: two milk-producing goats.

"It can't be a coincidence we eat honey on Rosh Hashanah because this is the time of year we harvest the honey and prepare the bees for winter," he said.

He keeps four hives at his home, six elsewhere in Stamford Hill and one on his father's rooftop. Each hive produces 60 to 80lbs of honey, enough to fill hundreds of jars of Schneck's Honey in time for Rosh Hashanah.

Originally, he had an aviary and kept budgies and chickens. "Somebody made a joke about the birds and the bees. So I researched the feasibility of keeping some bees in an urban environment. I got in touch with the North London Beekeepers Association who trained me up and it's gone from there."

He bought a couple of hives and, encouraged by winning a local prize for his light honey in 2006, expanded his bee-keeping.

The goats arrived later. He recently sold six. The remaining pair are called Tepele and Tzepele, after characters in the children's book Ten and A Kid.

Every day, he milks them, but he can only use the milk for his family as he is not licensed to sell it elsewhere. Carrying a metal tub of frothy liquid into the kitchen, he explained: "You put it into the freezer straight away to cool otherwise it doesn't stay fresh."

He has even invested in a milking machine, which attached to an electric timer, can automatically milk the goats on Shabbat.

Being an observant farmer also requires other halachic knowledge. Since the first-born of kosher animals had to be brought to the Temple and there is no Temple, you have to take special steps. "You need to sell part of the mother to a non-Jew before it kids," he said. "It is the only instance where halachah demands that you set up a partnership with a non-Jew."

Honey is less complicated although some rabbis have questioned whether honeydew honey - which contains a syrup produced by aphids - was actually kosher.

It is not only his husbandry that makes him unusual. Schooled in Yesodey Hatorah Boys School and then a local Satmar yeshivah, the father of four has just gained a first-class degree in biology, studying part-time at Birkbeck College. Now he has started a two-year master's course at University College London to train as an audiologist - a healthcare professional who deals with hearing and balance issues.

He was able to put his beekeeping knowledge to good use for an undergraduate research project. "I wanted to test whether there were differences in aggression between urban and rural bees. My experience was that countryside bees are more aggressive."

This has not stopped him from getting stung - often. "When you have this many colonies, you are bound to," he shrugged.