Honey from the Hive
What is honey?
Honey is produced by honeybees alone, and is used for energy and maintaining their health. It starts with the floral nectar that they collect, then back in the hive, it is converted, stored and concentrated. It comprises several types of sugar, enzymes, and mineral and pollen traces, and its colour, texture and flavour can vary according to the bees' choice of local flora and the season. Although it can be kept unspoilt for many years, our honey disappears quickly in most households!
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Health benefits
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Honey is full of natural goodness, and its antiseptic and antimicrobial qualities, offer many benefits to our health. Honey has a long history of medicinal usage, and many people today like to buy local 'raw' honey to help with certain chest and upper respiratory tract conditions.
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Harvesting honey
We normally harvest honey once or twice a year, when the bees produce an excess, stored in special frames separate from the brood. It is ready once they have evaporated its water content down to 18 per cent, and have capped the honeycomb with wax. It is essential to wait until this point, to prevent honey fermentation. Patience is key, and we cannot always predict when it will be ready for customers!
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Keeping honey pure
After uncapping the cells, we extract the honey, lightly straining out any hive debris. We do not heat it, as this could impair its flavour and medicinal qualities. Once settled in honey tank, any remaining bubbles and wax particles are skimmed off before it is poured and sealed in jars. Learn more about honey harvesting in our Apiary Diary...
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Flavour variation
The colour, flavour and texture of single-source local honey, such as ours, can change within a single season and between years. These are influenced by the bees' choice of flowers for nectar and pollen, which in turn depend on local conditions and the weather. So, it makes sense that while no two harvests are the same, they may include some similar flavour notes. Learn more about our own local pollen and seasonal flora...
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Natural or Factory Honey?
Produce of many countries
Many consider that mass-produced (or 'supermarket') honey lacks character. It is generally derived from bulk imports of mixed origin, and undergoes industrial processing and packaging in the UK. It is therefore impossible to know its true provenance.
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Factory processing
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To give honey apparent 'shelf appeal', factories will subject it to hyper-filtering and over-heating. These can make it appear clearer and runnier for longer, at the expense of filtering out and destroying the pollen particles and enzymes beneficial for health. The resulting product lacks the flavour and medicinal qualities found in the natural honey from your trusty local beekeeper!
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Bee welfare
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Mass production methods have attracted recent criticism, and you may have read reports of corn sugar-fed hives on large bee farms (this is akin to force- feeding animals with poor quality feed). This can prevent bees from getting a good balance of natural nectar and pollen, and may lead to poor health and spread diseases, ultimately causing mass bee population collapse. Short-term profits can take precedence over bee welfare and the quality of the honey.
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Benefits of local honey
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With our raw, unprocessed honey from bees treated naturally in their local setting, you can be confident that it is pure and derived from the surrounding flora, that all of its flavour and healthy qualities are preserved, and that the bees themselves are well-treated.
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Season's first honey harvest
Honey Advice
Crystallisation
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Crystallisation (or granulation) of honey over time is perfectly normal. It occurs more readily if honey has not been subjected to industrial heating and filtering, and when the balance of natural sugars and pollen particles is maintained.
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Can you heat honey?
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Crystallised honey tastes no different. If you prefer it runnier, however, you may heat it, but please do this gently over indirect heat (such as a Bain Marie), and ideally not above 35°C. Higher temperatures can destroy the beneficial enzymes and spoil the delicate floral flavours. If heated above 50°C for long, honey can turn into caramel (read more about heating honey).
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Honey and infants
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While honey can benefit our health, it is recommended not to give it to children under 12 months. This precautionary measure guards against possible infant botulism; while rare, this could arise from the presence of Clostridium botulinum spores in honey, to which we become resistant after our first year. This standard health advice applies to all honey, natural or otherwise.
Mini honey pot wedding gift
West Oxford Honey