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Twelve hives · single origin, sold by the season · tours May to August
Go and get the jar of honey you already have. We'll wait.
Honey is one of the most adulterated foods in the world, and every beekeeper's page answers that by saying theirs is pure — which is what the adulterated ones say too. So this page hands you a test you can run without us, on the label in your cupboard, and then tells you what we are not going to claim about hay fever.
12Hives, all within four miles
0Jars we blend or bulk out
6People maximum on a tour
40 lbsA good hive in a good year
Put your own four in, and keep the second one honest. If you do buy in honey to bottle, say so and say from where — it's a normal thing to do and the hiding is the only part anybody minds.
What the jar is telling you
Six things on a label, none of which need us to interpret them. This works on our jars too, and it should.
Find the country of origin first — It's on there by law and it is usually in the smallest type on the jar. Everything else on the label is a decision somebody made; that line is a requirement
"Blend of EU and non-EU honeys" is the tell — It means nobody is claiming to know where it came from. It's perfectly legal, it's in an enormous share of supermarket honey, and it is the most that sentence will ever tell you
A single country still isn't a single place — "Product of Spain" can be a thousand tonnes from four hundred beekeepers. If where it came from matters to you, look for a farm, a postcode or a hive number
Set and runny are the same honey — All honey crystallises eventually. Runny honey has usually been warmed and filtered to delay it, which is fine — it is a texture decision and not a quality claim in either direction
"Raw" is not a legal term — Anyone can print it. The useful questions are what temperature it was warmed to and how hard it was filtered, and a beekeeper will answer both in one sentence
The price is information too — Honey below a certain price cannot have been made the slow way by anybody, anywhere. That doesn't make it bad — it makes it a different product with the same word on it
"Blend of EU and non-EU honeys" is the tell — It means nobody is claiming to know where it came from. It's perfectly legal, it's in an enormous share of supermarket honey, and it is the most that sentence will ever tell you
A single country still isn't a single place — "Product of Spain" can be a thousand tonnes from four hundred beekeepers. If where it came from matters to you, look for a farm, a postcode or a hive number
Set and runny are the same honey — All honey crystallises eventually. Runny honey has usually been warmed and filtered to delay it, which is fine — it is a texture decision and not a quality claim in either direction
"Raw" is not a legal term — Anyone can print it. The useful questions are what temperature it was warmed to and how hard it was filtered, and a beekeeper will answer both in one sentence
The price is information too — Honey below a certain price cannot have been made the slow way by anybody, anywhere. That doesn't make it bad — it makes it a different product with the same word on it
What a jar actually costs to make
A hive makes about forty pounds in a good year — And nothing at all in a bad one. That is the entire economics of this, and it is why a jar of single-origin honey is not two pounds
The bees get fed in the lean months — Sugar, in autumn and early spring, when there is nothing out for them. Every beekeeper does this and the ones who say they don't are either losing colonies or not saying
Extraction is a day, and a mess — Uncapping, spinning, settling, jarring. It's a day of work for a few hundred jars and it happens twice a year, in the two weeks when everything else also needs doing
The jar and the lid cost more than people think — Glass has gone up more than honey has. It is a genuine and slightly ridiculous share of the price of a small jar
Losing a colony over winter costs a year — Ten to twenty per cent is normal and some winters are much worse. That loss is inside the price of every jar we sell, whether or not it happened this year
Our price doesn't move with demand — Same in December as in June. It runs out instead, which is what a fixed quantity does — and it comes back when the bees have made more
The bees get fed in the lean months — Sugar, in autumn and early spring, when there is nothing out for them. Every beekeeper does this and the ones who say they don't are either losing colonies or not saying
Extraction is a day, and a mess — Uncapping, spinning, settling, jarring. It's a day of work for a few hundred jars and it happens twice a year, in the two weeks when everything else also needs doing
The jar and the lid cost more than people think — Glass has gone up more than honey has. It is a genuine and slightly ridiculous share of the price of a small jar
Losing a colony over winter costs a year — Ten to twenty per cent is normal and some winters are much worse. That loss is inside the price of every jar we sell, whether or not it happened this year
Our price doesn't move with demand — Same in December as in June. It runs out instead, which is what a fixed quantity does — and it comes back when the bees have made more
What we are not going to tell you about hay fever
The most repeated sentence in this trade, and we're leaving it out on purpose. Here's why, and here's the one health line on this page that genuinely matters.
Never give honey to a child under one — Infant botulism — rare, serious, and the only genuinely important health line on this page. Over one it's completely fine. This is the sentence worth taking away if you take nothing else
We won't claim honey does anything for hay fever — Not because of a rule we resent, but because we don't know — and nor does anybody selling you a jar on that basis
The pollen argument doesn't work the way it sounds — Hay fever is mostly grass and tree pollen, carried on the wind. Bees work flowers, which are pollinated by insects rather than by air, and very little of that ends up in a jar
The studies are small and they disagree — There are a handful, they're tiny, and they don't point the same way. If somebody quotes you one, ask how many people were in it — the answer is usually about forty
Ask a pharmacist instead — Free, five minutes, and they know what's actually in the antihistamine aisle. A beekeeper is not the right person for that question and we'd rather say so
What honey genuinely is — It tastes of a specific place and a specific few weeks, it keeps for years, and it's a better thing to put on toast than most. That's the whole claim, and it is enough
We won't claim honey does anything for hay fever — Not because of a rule we resent, but because we don't know — and nor does anybody selling you a jar on that basis
The pollen argument doesn't work the way it sounds — Hay fever is mostly grass and tree pollen, carried on the wind. Bees work flowers, which are pollinated by insects rather than by air, and very little of that ends up in a jar
The studies are small and they disagree — There are a handful, they're tiny, and they don't point the same way. If somebody quotes you one, ask how many people were in it — the answer is usually about forty
Ask a pharmacist instead — Free, five minutes, and they know what's actually in the antihistamine aisle. A beekeeper is not the right person for that question and we'd rather say so
What honey genuinely is — It tastes of a specific place and a specific few weeks, it keeps for years, and it's a better thing to put on toast than most. That's the whole claim, and it is enough
What we have, and when
Three honeys, each from a season rather than a recipe. Ordered through the farm shop — nothing is paid for on this page.
Spring blossom · 340g
Pale, light and floral, from the orchard hives in May. Sets hard and fast within about two months, which is normal and not a fault. Usually gone by July.
Order at the farm shopSummer · 340g
The main crop, taken in August — bramble, clover and whatever the field margins were doing. Darker, stronger, and the one most people come back for.
Order at the farm shopHeather · 227g
From the moor hives, and a lot of work for a small jar. Thick enough to need pressing rather than spinning, which is why the jar is smaller and dearer.
Order at the farm shopEvery jar has the year and the month on the lid. When a season runs out it stays out until the next one — we don't top it up with anybody else's.
If you're coming on a tour
An hour, six people, May to August. Booked rather than dropped in on.
It's mostly standing still — Quietly, a few feet back, while somebody talks. There is no part where you hold a bee, and anybody promising that has a different sort of attraction
You'll wear a suit and it will be warm — We have them in adult sizes and two children's. Wear long trousers and closed shoes underneath — sandals are the one thing that gets people turned away
No children under eight — Not a judgement about your child. Under eight, standing still for forty minutes near an open hive is a lot to ask of anybody
The bees decide how it goes — Some days they're calm and you can stand right at the entrance. Some days they're cross and we close up after four minutes. That isn't a bad tour — it's the actual thing
You'll wear a suit and it will be warm — We have them in adult sizes and two children's. Wear long trousers and closed shoes underneath — sandals are the one thing that gets people turned away
No children under eight — Not a judgement about your child. Under eight, standing still for forty minutes near an open hive is a lot to ask of anybody
The bees decide how it goes — Some days they're calm and you can stand right at the entrance. Some days they're cross and we close up after four minutes. That isn't a bad tour — it's the actual thing
If bees make you nervous
A completely reasonable position, and the questions get straight answers.
Being stung is possible and it is uncommon — In a suit, standing still, on a calm day, it happens perhaps once a season across all the tours. We'd rather say that than say never
What we can and can't do about allergies — We ask before you book, we listen, and we keep the tour within sight of the house. What we cannot do is assess you — that's a doctor's job. If you've had a serious reaction to a sting, ask them before you book rather than us
You can watch from the fence — Ten metres back, no suit, and you'll still see most of it. Nobody will make anything of it and about one person on every other tour does exactly this
Say so when you book, not on the day — It changes which hive we open and where everybody stands. On the day it's too late to change either, and we'd rather move the tour than rush that
What we can and can't do about allergies — We ask before you book, we listen, and we keep the tour within sight of the house. What we cannot do is assess you — that's a doctor's job. If you've had a serious reaction to a sting, ask them before you book rather than us
You can watch from the fence — Ten metres back, no suit, and you'll still see most of it. Nobody will make anything of it and about one person on every other tour does exactly this
Say so when you book, not on the day — It changes which hive we open and where everybody stands. On the day it's too late to change either, and we'd rather move the tour than rush that
Dates for the season
Dates for the season
- Thu, Sep 3 · 5:27 AMFirst tours of the year📍 The home apiary
Once the colonies are properly awake and there's something to see. Earlier than this and you're looking at a closed box in the cold.
- Sat, Sep 26 · 5:27 AMSwarm season — tours run but shorter
Late spring is when colonies think about leaving. Fascinating to watch and the reason some tours in this window are twenty minutes rather than an hour.
- Mon, Nov 9 · 4:27 AMExtraction weekend — come and turn the handle📍 The barn
The two days the honey comes off. Sticky, loud and the best thing on this list. Children of any age welcome for this one because there are no open hives.
- Wed, Dec 9 · 4:27 AMLast tours before the bees are left alone
After this they get fed and shut up for winter, and opening a hive does more harm than good. Tours come back in the spring.
These roll forward with the template — Put your real dates in before publishing — a beekeeping calendar is set by the weather anyway, so give a fortnight rather than a day where you can
Tours don't run in the rain or under 15 degrees — Not fussiness — the bees are much less pleasant to be near and you'd see nothing. We'll move you rather than cancel you
Winter is for the talk, not the hives — If there's a village-hall session on your calendar, put it here. It's the same hour without the suit and it is genuinely better for anybody nervous
Tours don't run in the rain or under 15 degrees — Not fussiness — the bees are much less pleasant to be near and you'd see nothing. We'll move you rather than cancel you
Winter is for the talk, not the hives — If there's a village-hall session on your calendar, put it here. It's the same hour without the suit and it is genuinely better for anybody nervous
Book a tour, or ask about honey
One person answers this and it's usually the evening. Tell us about any allergy at this point rather than on the day — it changes the plan and never the welcome.
Book a tour, or ask about honey
"A swarm in my garden" is on that list because it's the commonest message a beekeeper gets, and it's urgent. If that's you, ring rather than write — the number is in the footer.
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.