Ridgeway Bees Blog

Sugar, ah honey honey... You are my candy girl... And you've got me wanting you... Honey, ah sugar sugar... You are my candy girl... And you've got me wanting you... The bees are natures finest candy girls but why does some honey taste and look different? In my humble opinion, good raw honey is an altogether different product from the "Grade A Amber" glass jar varieties that line the supermarket shelves. I have spent a lot of time looking at the labels of jars in Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tescos and Aldi. Almost every brand of supermarket honey sold is a blend, accumulated from thousands of colonies, then boiled down until all its dynamic flavours are distilled to produce a standard colour and tasting product. But the raw stuff, harvested at exactly the right time in the season and without one bit of heat? That honey is liquid gold. Honey straight from a hive is full of unique flavours based on its location and the season. With a little background information all of these variations can be appreciated with the same respect and admiration as the tasting of wine. Generally the type and number of flowers where bees collect nectar from determine honey colour, aroma, taste and nutrient content of the honey. Therefore honey colour depends on the vegetation (flowers) of the area where nectar is collected and the season in which it is foraged. There are various honey colours ranging from water-white to deep brown or dark amber all the way to black honey produced. For example in early spring our bees forage on clover, early fruit bearing trees like pear, apple and cherry blossom, and rape seed so the honey this flora and fauna produces is light in colour and sweet in taste. Throughout the summer and into early autumn sunflowers are coming into season which produce a darker, richer tasting honey. The muddle of hedgerow and meadow flowers like poppies and such like produce a lovely balance of light and dark nectar producing a lovely amber honey which has a light floral hint in flavour. You can't beat raw, unpasteurised honey straight from the hive. I've sold out in 2020 but please support your local bee keeper. Find your nearest by visiting you local produce farm shops, farmers markets or you can visit The Vale and Downland beekeepers website for a list of local bee keepers who have honey for sale. Happy honey tasting! From Amy and the bees at Ridgeway Bees.

A blog about the health benefits of raw honey and the risks for babies under 12 months old

Three types of bee - female queen, female worker bees and male drones