As part of our 25th Year celebrations, we were proud to host an industry event this week with the Bee Farmers Association, the voice of professional beekeeping in the UK. With almost 500 industry members, we were delighted to welcome a large number of them to our HQ, presenting our back-story and conducting a series of honey factory tours to the enthusiastic groups.
Spirits were high in a spring-like London, but the aim of the special event was quite a serious one, to raise awareness and develop resilience within the industry should the Asian hornet become established in the UK.
Asian hornets are a top predator of honeybees, with just one Asian hornet able to kill and eat up to 50 honeybees a day. They also prey on native pollinators such as bumblebees, and can have a serious impact on the pollination services these creatures provide. Spotting's are becoming more frequent, with a sharp rise in sightings of the invasive species in the UK during 2023. The current government strategy is to locate and kill every hornet and destroy all nests to prevent them from staying over winter and multiplying.
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Experts in their field delivered a series of insightful and practical talks at the event including;
Nigel Semmence: APHA National Bee Unit Contingency Planning and Science Officer. Nigel gave an update on the current situation with Asian hornet in the UK, the detailed mapping and ongoing scientific research being conducted by Fera Science Ltd on behalf of Defra.
Monitoring for arrival of the Asian hornet is strongly encouraged throughout the UK, but especially in areas where likelihood of arrival is considered to be highest (S & SE England).
Find out more HERE
]]>PLANTING SCHEMES for Small Spaces and Pollinators:
Small border: 60cm x 2m
Mainly sunny with some light shade, this is a colourful combination for a small border, and the scheme has enough variety and interest to keep butterflies, bees and other pollinators coming back for more.
If you have more space, add some evergreen shrubs and grasses like Hebe and Stipa tenuissima to ensure structure and cover after perennials have died down for the winter.
Simply follow the planting layout and guide below:
RoMJU: Rosmarinus (Salvia) officinalis ‘Miss Jessopp’s Upright’ - Rosemary
Vigorous growing and upright in form, this Rosemary is perfect for providing vertical interest in a sunny herb garden or border. Long flowering and highly aromatic this more than earns its place on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.
VbL: Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’ - Verbena
Shorter growing and more robust than the ever-popular Verbena bonariensis, the ‘Lollipop’ variety still has all the wonderful attributes of its taller relative: airy, elegant, long-flowering and attractive to pollinating insects.
AR: Astrantia ‘Roma’ - Masterwort
Astrantias have been cultivated in Britain since the 16th century and are still a Chelsea favourite. Great for edging a border, their pretty, dense-growing leaves make good groundcover and offer shelter for insects.
GTT: Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ - Geum
Bringing wonderful, pollinator-friendly colour to a border, these orange flowers just keep on going throughout summer and well into the autumn. A great combination with mauves and purples of rosemary, salvia and nepeta, this cheerful perennial is a frequent star in Chelsea gardens.
PLS: Perovskia ‘Little Spire’ - Russian Sage
Aromatic and insect-friendly, with hazy silver-grey leaves and upright spikes of tiny violet-blue flowers, this shorter version of Russian Sage is less likely to flop, so a great option where space is limited.
NJW: Nepeta x faassenii ‘Junior Walker’ - Catmint
A more compact grower than other Nepeta varieties, ‘Junior Walker’ makes a good path and border edging as well as being comfortable in a pot. The long-flowering blue blooms are a delight to humans and insects alike.
SnC: Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ - Salvia
Another long-standing Chelsea favourite, this compact Salvia, with striking dark stems brings intense colour, insects and scent to a sunny border. Cut the finished spikes frequently and the flowers should keep on coming from summer to autumn.
Pippa Martlew has many years’ experience designing gardens, large and small, for private and commercial clients.
A Chelsea veteran, Pippa has assisted on numerous show gardens, including 6 Gold medal gardens and a Best in Show (while working for Andy Sturgeon). Closer to home, she enjoys tending her Wandsworth allotment and her own tiny terrace garden. A long-standing friend, Pippa and the London Honey Company have collaborated on a number of projects.
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In the world of bees, you can never speak in singular form. Each of them makes an individual contribution, but the goal is for the common good. Such would be our approach to our marquee for this year's fundraising Bee Garden Party, hosted by Bees for Development.
Special events like this can take an immense amount of time and energy to pull together, crafting every element to perfection, ready for the big moment, but by their very nature events are so short-lived!
With the spirit of collaboration and a no-waste approach, we set about creating...
We envisaged our fabulous colourful beehives, taking pride of place in the marquee, stuffed to the brim, overflowing with wonderful pollinator-friendly planting, and bringing a little bit of super-nature to the day.
We found the perfect partners in the HUMBLE BEE GARDENERS;
Planting craftsmen with heart and vision, and a sustainable ethos, the Humble Bee Gardeners, Jenny & Frantisek (along with baby Ota) brought their magic to the day.
Keeping the majority of planting in their original pots so they could be re-used, cleverly layering and concealing them, overlaying them with sedums and wonderful herbs, pinned around recycled hessian coffee sacks, Jenny and Frantisek created truly joyful planting in and around the beehives and our up-cycled honey barrels.
The sight, and the smells were appreciated by everyone who came to enjoy our honey-tasting display, including Patron of the charity, Her Majesty the Queen who spotted her favourite plant, Alchemilla Mollis which she describes as “a must for every gardener”.
Upcycled. Recycled. No waste.
Freshly painted, our upcycled honey barrels were a huge success. We commissioned artist, friend and long-term collaborator with London Honey Co, Julie-Ann Pugh to adorn them with the same inspired hand painted flora as the colourful beehives she'd produced for us a few years previous.
The combination of them, with the planting, was quite spectacular and we were blown away by the wonderful feedback on the day.
A surface artist and designer, Julie-Anne specialises in outdoor spaces and gardening. In her own words "I aim to make the everyday unforgettable.”
From our Shropshire Bees to Uganda...
Bee Garden Party Honey
We chose our Shropshire Honey for the specially curated 'Bee Garden Party Honey' jar that we donated, helping towards the fundraising efforts on the day and ultimately helping to buy motorbikes in Uganda - a lifeline for the team there, allowing access to the most inaccessible homesteads deep in rural Uganda.
An unforgettable day, and an event with community spirit truly at its heart... the bees would approve!
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PLANTING SCHEMES for Small Spaces and Pollinators:
Pots are an extremely versatile way of getting variety and colour into a small garden space. Don’t let them dry out in sun or windy conditions and remember that large pots can become very heavy - particularly when their soil is wet - so make sure any balcony you position them on is strong enough to take the additional weight.
This grouping of 3 pots, is designed for lasting texture and colour and, of course, maximum attraction for butterflies, bees and other pollinators.
POT 1: 60cm diameter
BLL: Buddleja ‘Little Lila’ - Butterfly Bush
Know for being large, untidy shrubs with a fondness for rough ground and railway sidings, recent years have seen an introduction of smaller ‘patio’ varieties, created specially for sunny pots and planters. Buddleja ‘Little Lila’ will exist quite happily in a good sized pot and will reward your kindness with frequent visits from butterflies.
POT 2: 60cm diameter
Cb: Cosmos bipinnatus - Cosmos
The regular form of this popular annual can become very tall and unwieldy, so for planting in pots, look for the shorter ‘Apollo’ variety. Offering colour and beauty in abundance, bees and butterflies will flock to feed on pollen from their pale pink or white flowers.
NJW: Nepeta x faassenii ‘Junior Walker’ - Catmint
A more compact grower than other Nepeta varieties, ‘Junior Walker’ makes a good path and border edging as well as being comfortable in a pot. The long-flowering blue blooms are a delight to humans and insects alike.
SDB: Scabiosa ‘Deep Blue’ (Flutter Series) - Pincushion Flower
The larger than average flowers of this compact Scabious are loved by bees, as well as making good cutting flowers. Keep trimming the sturdy stems and more flowers will come.
POT 3: 45cm diameter
GWB: Gaura (Oenothera) lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’ - Gaura
Graceful and airy, with long wands of white, star-shaped flowers and an exceptionally long flowering period, this gorgeous plant is a must for any pollinator friendly garden. It also works well in a sunny border, where it will have the space to really get going.
ANT: Armeria marítima ‘Nifty Thrifty’ - Thrift
Compact and low growing, so perfect for filling gaps in planters and borders, this pretty little evergreen with variegated leaves has charming bright pink flowers to attract insects’ attention.
Ek: Erigeron karvinskianus - Mexican Fleabane
This gorgeous little plant loves growing in cracks in paving and walls and is happy in sun or partial shade. Butterflies and bees enjoy the mass of small daisies with shades of white and pink and an attractive yellow centre.
Pippa Martlew has many years’ experience designing gardens, large and small, for private and commercial clients.
A Chelsea veteran, Pippa has assisted on numerous show gardens, including 6 Gold medal gardens and a Best in Show (while working for Andy Sturgeon). Closer to home, she enjoys tending her Wandsworth allotment and her own tiny terrace garden. A long-standing friend, Pippa and the London Honey Company have collaborated on a number of projects.
PLANTING SCHEMES for Small Spaces and Pollinators:
We can’t always choose which way our house and gardens face. When planting a window box, we should consider the amount of sunlight and the impact of wind. Window boxes dry out quickly and can become unstable, so make sure they are well-watered and anchored, to avoid any risk of falling.
Growing a variety of herbs is a great way to attract pollinators to a very small window box. As well as being handy for the kitchen, dense plants such as Lavender and Thyme can provide food and shelter for insects.
This sun-loving scheme offers a mix of attractive, compact flowers and flowering culinary herbs.
Sunny Herb & Floral Window Box
Size approx 90cm x 30cm, follow the planting layout and guide below:
LaLL: Lavandula angustifolia ‘Little Lady’ - Lavender
Lavender is the great bee and pollinator magnet, so it’s a must for any garden spot or windowsill, with good sun levels. The larger varieties would outgrow a window box and quickly become woody. Instead, choose compact or dwarf varieties like Lavender angustifolia ‘Little Lady’ or ‘Dwarf Blue’.
SoP: Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’ - Purple Sage
Upright and aromatic, with grey-green foliage flushed with reddish-purple - if you let this robust herb flower, you will be rewarded with frequent visits from bees. It’s also useful in cooking, so well worth having close to hand.
OvA: Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’ - Golden Majoram
Edible and aromatic, this lovely, golden-coloured Marjoram brings a zesty freshness to any planting scheme. With neat, mat-forming growth and small clusters of pink flowers that attract pollinators, this is a handy addition to any mixed herb planting.
SKP: Scabiosa ‘Kudo Pink’ - Pincushion Flower
A firm favourite with bees and butterflies, these pretty pink flowerhead rise on tall, slender stems. Keep cutting the flowers to encourage new ones to come and you’ll be rewarded with flowers from spring through to autumn.
Tv/Tc: Thymus vulgaris - Common Thyme; Thymus citriodorus - Lemon Thyme
This extremely versatile herb can be used to edge paths and to fill small spaces in pots and planters. Low growing, aromatic, delicious in cooking - what more could one ask for? And when it flowers, you’ll find it smothered in bees!
Ek: Erigeron karvinskianus - Mexican Fleabane
This gorgeous little plant loves growing in cracks in paving and walls and is happy in sun or partial shade. Butterflies and bees enjoy the mass of small daisies, with tones of white and pink and an attractive yellow centre.
]]>Pippa Martlew has many years’ experience designing gardens, large and small, for private and commercial clients.
A Chelsea veteran, Pippa has assisted on numerous show gardens, including 6 Gold medal gardens and a Best in Show (while working for Andy Sturgeon). Closer to home, she enjoys tending her Wandsworth allotment and her own tiny terrace garden. A long-standing friend, Pippa and the London Honey Company have collaborated on a number of projects.
Chelsea Week is in full swing and SW3 is buzzing as professional and novice gardeners rub shoulders on Main Avenue. The celebrities have posed for photos while quaffing champagne on the most photogenic gardens; the King, Queen and other Family members have filtered through, maintaining the royal connection with Chelsea since the sad loss of RHS patron, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II; and the medals and Best in Show have been awarded, to the thrill (and disappointment) of designers, contractors and sponsors.
Whether you’re lucky enough to have a ticket, or are following the extensive TV coverage at home, it’s easy to get swept up in all this gorgeous May-madness.
For some years now, many of the garden designers at Chelsea have shunned traditional show garden themes, where horticultural havens were created using high maintenance perennials, rigid topiary and ambitious planting combinations.
Now, Chelsea is about gardens with messages as the show’s popularity provides a powerful opportunity for worthy charities and organisations to promote their causes. There are some magnificent, atmospheric and thought-provoking gardens this year (although one can still hear the perennial question, “…but, is it a garden?” being muttered by more traditional observers).
With this predominance of conceptual gardens, providing metaphors for life’s mental and physiological challenges, planting perfection has given way to craggy landscapes, recycled materials, wildflowers and weeds. The importance of preserving our fragile world is in the front of everyone’s mind and the sustainability of nature and ecology are key themes.
We now celebrate the ‘wild’ garden, where native plants and wildflowers sway in the breeze to the gentle hum of pollinators going about their essential business.
But how do these ideas translate to our own small, but treasured, outdoor spaces?
For many of us urban dwellers our ‘garden’ is limited to a back yard, balcony, or window box, competing with bin stores, bikes and kids’ toys. While those of us with busy schedules can at least take some comfort in knowing that the perfectly manicured garden has fallen from fashion, this more naturalistic style of planting can be tricky to get right. A ‘rewilded’ garden runs the risk of looking like we have simply lost our grip!
So, with National Bee Day just behind us and the throngs still filtering along Royal Hospital Road, tickets in hand, I'll be sharing three fabulous planting schemes with simple tips for creating a little piece of Chelsea, while ensuring that the buzz stays long after the last bulldozer has left the showground.
We're excited to share these specially curated planting schemes over the coming weeks, that you and the bees will love:
]]>Pippa Martlew has many years’ experience designing gardens, large and small, for private and commercial clients.
A Chelsea veteran, Pippa has assisted on numerous show gardens, including 6 Gold medal gardens and a Best in Show (while working for Andy Sturgeon). Closer to home, she enjoys tending her Wandsworth allotment and her own tiny terrace garden. A long-standing friend, Pippa and the London Honey Company have collaborated on a number of projects.
The 20th May is World Bee Day. A day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of bees and all other pollinators, that are increasingly under threat from human activities.
Pollination is a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems and key to conserving biodiversity. But did you know that 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land?
Three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits, or seeds for use as human food depend, at least in part, on bees and other pollinators.
Bees are under threat. Present species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal due to human impacts. Close to 35 percent of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, and about 17 percent of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, face extinction globally.* Source The UN.
We need to act now.
Individually we can all help with some simple steps...
Know the source.
The simple act of sourcing directly from a producer and choosing local quality produce over major imported goods where you can, is one of the most important steps. So if you are a customer, thank you for being a continued part of our community and supporting the bees by buying our British-produced Honey products.
Planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year and take part in No-Mow May if you can. We'll have more on planting ideas in an upcoming newsletter, specifically for smaller and challenging spaces to help attract pollinators.
Buy products from sustainable agriculture practices, avoiding pesticides, herbicides or fungicides in the garden.
Make a simple bee 'water fountain' by simply leaving a bowl of water outside.
Raise awareness around us - in any way we can - every individual voice can help contribute towards change for good.
Sponsor a hive or support a focused charity, such as Bees for Development - a ground-breaking, international charity which develops beekeeping skills in the poorest communities of the world, giving people a reliable, sustainable income for life. The charity reaches over 130 countries, helping over 2,500 people every year, they use local skills, local materials and local bees to bring benefits for people, bees and the environment. Find out more.
The London Honey Company are long-term supporters of Bees for Development through the sales of our Zambian Organic Honey and the annual fundraising Bee Garden Party and auction.
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"Your honey is incredible, and Salisbury Honey was the perfect aromatic addition to a classic madeleine"
Enjoy the warm, sweet honey aroma of these classic madeleines. They'll make a lovely Mothers Day or Easter weekend treat to share with friends and family.
Makes 8 / Ingredients:
50g butter
1 egg
40g caster sugar
2 tbsp Salisbury Honey
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla paste
90g 00 flour – or plain sponge flour if 00 not available
Italian 0 flour is less finely ground and also contains a small amount of the outer husk, the closest comparative in the UK is regular plain flour.
Method:
Enjoy.
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Although there's a difference between a few slabs of cheese on a plate, and an array of textures and flavours which re-invigorate our taste buds and prepare us for the sweet course ahead. Accompany your cheeses with walnuts in the shell, dried fruits, grapes, figs, apples - and of course, honey and honeycomb. Here's a few pointers when considering pairing cheeses and what to consider when choosing a special honey:
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It's not something we can imagine festivities without, so this year we're sharing the recipe with you. We can promise you, it's simple and it's a keeper.
The question is... which honey for the pudding? We've got two particular favourites here, Ling and Zambian, both of which have a particularly thick and treacle-like texture which is a pleasure to spoon into the mix.
More importantly both have the strength of character to sing through in the finished result. Our Ling honey has the savoury aromatics of the heather moors, and Zambian distills the nectar of the rainforest. Thanks to the utter remoteness of this particular nectar, it is also possible to truly call this one organic.
We'd recommend Zambian for any gingerbreads, parkins, malt loaves and fruit cakes you might happen to find yourself baking too. Or set yourself up with our new family size 1kg Blossom tubs — always pure single origin, always British, and always better value…
A place to store your sticky jar out of sight on the table, but also mean that it was always to hand for spontaneous sweet moments. We carried the idea around with us for a while, ever quite finding the right pair of hands to trust it to, until we visited Leach Pottery and met ceramicist Kat Wheeler.
Today, Kat works in the small community founded by a former Leach apprentice, known as the Gaol Yard Studios at St Ives. It's rather like our own Spa Terminus home as a collect of independent craftspeople sharing a common ethos. Kat not only literally works with the earth (her clay is particularly iron-rich and textured) but also draws her inspiration from her North Norfolk Coastal surroundings when it comes to her small batch, reduction fired stoneware. Her emphasis on organic form—features which appear to evolve organically from the clay, really spoke to us when we first saw her work. This was stoneware which felt like it belongs out there in nature, as a product of its environment. Her focus on taking something raw and allowing it to express itself without adulteration or intervention is of course, what makes what we do, ours too. What better partner for our raw British honey?
NEW IN: STONEWARE HONEYPOTS & SPOONS
Only the second commission she has made for us in five years, this is a super rare and limited chance to get your paws on one of Kat's one-of-a-kind designs, plus one of her charming new honey spoons.
There is a reason why you never see spoons made in ceramic - and we really had to convince Kat on this - because the process is so labour-intensive.
Together, honeypot and spoon are perfect for that time of year when honey could do with an extra layer of warmth. Each pot is made to perfectly house our 250g glass jar, and is available in quite unique slip patterns, so we suggest that means, one for you, one for a friend. We caught up with Kat briefly to chat about her craft process, and the particular challenge of this commission.
How would you describe your practice?
I do a lot of surface decoration, called slip decoration, which means decorating with a kind of watered down, white clay. I apply it with a really rough brush that's made from rice straw, which gives the surface its feathery, textural look. Because the clay that I throw is very dark and has a lot of iron in it, that white surface decoration creates a nice contrast.
What was the process of working on the original commission like?
Steve was really great to work with, he approached me because he already had a feel for my style, so it ended up being a really fun, collaborative way of working. The challenge was the process of measuring the pots so that the glass honey jars would slot inside, especially as my clay shrinks about 12%. I ended up making a specific measuring tool which I can flip onto the inside of the pot to measure it.
The spoons are a new addition. How did you approach it?
When I was looking at honey spoon styles, I wanted something sturdy. Spoons in ceramic are really rarely done, so that was a little bit of a challenge, particularly as you want it glazed in order to clean easily. Normally as potter I do a lot of throwing, so I feel like I did a lot of processes with these that I don't normally, so for these I hand sculpted, cast it in plaster, pulled a mould and made them that way, it was a tiny bit fussy, a fun, challenging project that I would never have thought to try otherwise.
What was the actual process of making the spoons?
They're cast into plaster, in two parts, the process is called press moulding, which means that you take a bit of clay and press the two halves of the mold together to create the spoon. The more common way is slip casting where you just pour in liquid clay, so this is more of a handmade process, using regular soft clay rolled out a little coil which you then stick into the mould. I've seen a few other potters who dabble in spoons but the glazing issue can be a challenge, likewise the tendency of the clay to 'walk around' in the kiln, so there are no completely straight lines here.
Huge thanks to Kat for the final beautiful creations.
Head to 'Gifts' to buy a limited edition Stoneware Honeypot & Spoon.
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Introducing our new short film: EXTRAORDINARY BORAGE
To whet your appetite for the film, we sat down for a quick chat with Beekeeper George, Steve's nephew, and the brains behind our CBD development process. You'll also meet George in the film, discussing what it means to be a bee farmer and what is so special to him about borage.
]]>As such, there was no question that it would star in the second in our series of our stunning short films, which we're thrilled to be unveiling now.
To whet your appetite for the film, we sat down for a quick chat with George, Steve's nephew, and the brains behind our CBD development process. You'll also meet George in the film, discussing what it means to be a bee farmer and what is so special to him about borage.
Quick Cuts with Beekeeper, George Chelton:
Any notes from this year's borage harvest?
This year has been our biggest crop ever! We've had 120 hives out on the fields, 6 boxes to a hive, harvesting sensational comb in particular. Borage comb is one of the best lookers and keepers out there, as it doesn't crystallise, and we've not only had quantity but also quality. Grade A comb to us means comb that is entirely filled—so each cell is full of honey and 'capped' with a little piece of wax which keeps the honey sealed. When we get an incomplete comb, then we'll use that to extract the liquid honey, which becomes the base of our CBD honey, as well as fills our pure Borage jars.
Despite 2021 throwing all the bad weather at you?
Yes—this year everything has been delayed by several weeks, for example we're only just now finishing up the heather harvest on the moors and it's nearly October. For each crop, I think there was a point where we wondered if it was ever going to happen, and then when it did, it delivered in buckets.
What did you least expect about becoming a beekeeper?
In particular, how climate changes would affect different geographic regions and nectar sources around the UK. We're seeing much more extremes of microclimate—with Kent often too cold and barren of wildflowers now in Spring to give us the crops we remember in the past, while the North West and Oxfordshire have become far more abundant than previously. We're having to react to this and adapt our strategies, so next year, we'll be considering taking a higher number of our hives up north.
It all looks so beautiful—but what are the challenges to beekeeping?
Beekeeping is so reactive—we're essentially running an agricultural business from a London HQ, but need to be constantly in tune with what's in flower, what's just about to flower, in multiple different places at once. I'll do site trips not to check on bees, but to check on crops and wildflowers. For example, there's a 7-10 day window to catch the London Harrow lime trees. If we're not got our hives ready to go on the first day that they flower, then we miss the whole crop.
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Seasons like this spring, we know what slow beekeeping really means: dependence on natural forces and working only with what we have, to protect what we've got.
]]>Seasons like this spring, we know what slow beekeeping really means: dependence on natural forces and working only with what we have, to protect what we've got.
The honey industry only gets more cut-throat and brutal each year – from aggressively commercial Manuka harvests to adulterating honey in drive up profits, and out-compete bee farmers working with integrity. We'll always stand against that and, instead of looking at ways to speed up, at how to slow down.
Slow farming is a word which we hear a lot – so what does it mean to us? It means staying true to our origins, as a growing business, and our decision not to wear gloves when we tend to the hives is a small key to that. It slows us down for sure, as we've got no protective layer, but it means we don't compromise on our sensitivity, and that we don't crush the bees. Working with bare hands reminds us every day that we work with our hands, as craftspeople. It's details like these which keep us in touch, quite literally, with what we do.
Slow also means we're still willing to seek out rare harvests such as heather, whose tiny yields and high risk make this less and less commercially viable, as the moors struggle to retain their pristine habitats in face of climate change and an increased human footprint. Ultimately, although we have grown a lot since we started, we remain driven by the small things it is necessary to slow down for–the heady smell of a full honey box, the sight of bees still flying at 9pm in midsummer, the sunrise over the moors.
This year we, alongside other farmers, have felt climate shift making a drastic impact on harvests – showing us that working together through sustainable practice to heal our damaged planet is more vital than ever.
As beekeepers, our bees have a key role to play as pollinators for the flora which sequesters carbon in the soil removing it from the atmosphere. As such, we're increasingly able to benefit from rich synergy with progressive small farmers looking to house hives on their land and pollinate their wild meadows and fringes, who are seeking grants for rewilding projects, who are looking for natural partners to heritage crops. Where we will never work with intensive agriculture, farms which produce 5 or 6 crops a year and only take from the soil, the movement towards sustainable agriculture, increasingly gives us new partners to work with.
Whether landowners seek us out, or vice versa, our goal is not only to make exceptional honey but do so in a way which is connected and sustainable, and which sees bees working towards something bigger than a jar of honey. Fostering these generational relationships means that we can really trust to the integrity of the land to which our hives return year in, year out.
This is far from situating our hives at the side of some road: whether a fruit orchard, a biodynamic vineyard, or a royal estate, the bees are part of the farming vision of that place and we always know exactly what that is. No agrochemicals, no drilling, no wildlife or hedgerow culling; farming for the long term. We know that our bees are in good health and good hands when we're not there, and that their work is not being wasted.
We particularly love their emphasis on working small batch, their respect for the wild and the natural and attention to origin–crafting teas which are not only good for our health but full of flavour. Just like our honey.
This week, Camellia's are matching our Salisbury Honey with their Very Berry Tea and combining the two in a recipe that looks set to upgrade teatime…
The bees visit viper’s bugloss, sweet clover and sainfoin which produces a delicate taste profile - adding a subtle sweetness to the tarts.
Ingredients: For cheesecake filling
2tbsp Salisbury Honey
5 strawberries diced
5tbsp Very Berry Tea
400g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
Ingredients: For shortbread base
140g plain flour
85g butter
60g caster sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Method
Enjoy the recipe
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Ingredients:
1kg palourde clams
50g rice vermicelli
85g butter or ghee
1 tbsp tamarind paste
10g garlic, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger
2 small red chillies, chopped
handful of fresh curry leaves (if possible)
1 tsp cinnamon honey
85ml dark rum
1 lime, juice
Fresh coriander
Method:
Discard any clams with broken shells or that do not shut when tapped. Scrub with a scourer to remove any barnacles and keep clams in an empty clean bowl (not in water) covered with a damp cloth.
Boil the kettle and soak the vermicelli for a couple of minutes and then drain and rinse in cold water so they don’t stick.
Heat a large heavy-based saucepan (with a lid) and add the butter, fresh curry leaves, tamarind with the garlic, ginger, chillies, and cinnamon honey. Fry for a couple of minutes then deglaze with the dark rum. Add the clams and immediately put on a tight-fitting lid.
Cook for 5 minutes on a high heat until all the clams have opened and the rum is cooked. (Discard any clams that refuse to open.) Stir in the soaked string hoppers or vermicelli and finish with the lime juice and coriander leaves. Enjoy.
Emily says 'This delicious 'dark and stormy' dish is simple to make and will impress your guests! A little cinnamon honey is really wonderful in any Sri Lankan or Indian inspired meal reminding me of a mix of palm sugar (kithul) and jaggery.'
Thanks to Emily @Weligama_ldn
]]>This Travels in Honey recipe includes two options in one; a curry and a potato-topped pie, and also finds a thread between a British classic and classic Sri Lankan flavours. Honey is the balancing factor here, a touch of unrefined sweetness which highlights the umami and savoury notes by virtue of being different. A delicious Spring recipe... lamb is in season and pairs so well with spices and sweet potato.
This recipe is also gluten free and can be dairy free just by omitting the yogurt and replacing the coconut milk with water. Isle of Purbeck honey, made with spring flowers is strong, full of character and brings the perfect balance of umami to this dish. The curry can be eaten alone – with noodles, rice or with the sweet potato crust... many recipes in one!
Serves 4
For the curry:
1kg lambs neck cut into (roughly) 3cm chunks
Freshly ground black pepper / salt
5 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
2tsp cumin seed
4 red onions, peeled and sliced
15g garlic, peeled and finely chopped
15g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
25g coriander root, washed and finely chopped
3–4 small green chillies, finely chopped
4 anchovies, chopped, or 2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp ground or fresh turmeric
2 cinnamon stick, broken in half
400ml coconut milk
2 tbsp vinegar (any kind is fine)
300ml water
1 tbsp Isle of Purbeck honey
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp full-fat plain yoghurt (optional)
Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas 3.
Put the lamb in a large bowl with 1 tb sea salt and 2tb black pepper. Leave overnight to marinade. If you don’t have time for this just continue to the next stage.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan (with a lid) and, when smoking, add the cumin seed, sliced onions, garlic, ginger, coriander root and green chillies, along with 1 teaspoon sea salt. Sweat until the onions are soft, about 15 minutes. If the onions start to stick, you can always add a little water.
Stir the onion mix every so often. During this time, In a separate large pan, heat the remaining oil and, when smoking hot, brown the meat in batches, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a baking tray.
Once the onions are soft and sweet, add the anchovies or fish sauce, followed by the browned meat, coconut milk, vinegar, water, honey and cherry tomatoes. Bring to a simmer with the lid off then place the lid on the pan and into the oven for 3 / 4 hours until the lamb is tender. Once cooked stir in the yogurt.
For the shepherds pie:
1/2 the quantity of lamb curry
1.5kg sweet potatoes
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp chilli flakes and honey (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Put the whole sweet potatoes in a roasting tin covered with tin foil and roast for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until nice and soft. Peel off the skin when still warm – this way the skin should come off easily. Mash with a balloon whisk and add the rest of the ingredients, seasoning to taste. Depending on the sweetness of your potatoes you might want to add a little honey for an extra boost.
Warm and then spread out the curry into an ovenproof dish, with the mash evenly spread on top.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and top with crispy onions, coriander leaves and chilli flakes. Serve with greens, yoghurt and lime wedges.
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Our Travels in Honey continues with Slow cooked Chicken with Mango. A recipe that operates on the same delicious premise say that lamb and apricots do, or sausages and apples, beef and quince. All of these are marriages of sweet and savoury brought together in a truly melting texture that binds the distinct flavours together.
Same for chicken and mango, here, the Ginger and Turmeric Honey not only helps render the juices particularly syrupy (just the kind to mop up with some bread) but draws out the rich amber hues of the dish.
]]>Our Travels in Honey continues with Slow cooked Chicken with Mango. A recipe that operates on the same delicious premise say that lamb and apricots do, or sausages and apples, beef and quince. All of these are marriages of sweet and savoury brought together in a truly melting texture that binds the distinct flavours together.
Same for chicken and mango, here, the Ginger and Turmeric Honey not only helps render the juices particularly syrupy (just the kind to mop up with some bread) but draws out the rich amber hues of the dish.
Serves 4 people
Ingredients:
4 x chicken legs or thigh
100g coconut oil
200g red onions, sliced
10g stems of fresh curry leaf, washed (if available otherwise leave out)
20g garlic, peeled and chopped
20g ginger, peeled and chopped
7g x lemongrass, washed and cut (if available otherwise leave out)
10g fresh lemon thyme or rosemary
20g x green chilli, sliced with seeds removed
2 x large cup white wine
50ml vinegar (any)
15ml Ginger & Turmeric Honey
5tsp fresh or ground turmeric
600g large juicy yellow mangos, peeled and sliced
½ cup chicken stock or cube
30g butter
To serve: Salt, Black pepper and Dijon mustard
Method:
Season the chicken with salt and put in fridge until ready to use. This can be done 24 hours before.
Preheat the oven 180C. Prep your onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, thyme, green chilli and mango.
Get half the coconut oil and add the curry leaves followed by the garlic, ginger and chilli with a tsp salt. Cut the mango and set aside.
Get another pan and with the rest of coconut oil brown the chicken legs until brown on each side then remove chicken and deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce for 10 minutes and then add the butter and cook for 5 mins.
Add the vinegar, honey and stock to the onions. Cook for 15 minutes to reduce.
Put everything in a baking tray and cover with tin foil.
Cook for 1hr 40 minutes at 180C.
Serve with cooked spinach, mustard and fresh bread to mop up the juices.
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This recipe is a showcase in the beauty of natural sugar. Persimmons are naturally sweet and so this pickle only needs a few spoonfuls of our Salisbury honey to help it along and no refined sugars in the mix at all! The fruits are high in essential potassium and beta carotene, and antioxidants that help support keen vision and mental agility so, when put together with honey’s magical properties, we say keep a jar in the fridge and serve it up alongside plain rice, alongside cheeses, as a dip whenever you’re needing a healthy boost.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
Handful of fresh curry leaves (if can get them, otherwise leave out )
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ tsp sea salt
2 birds eye red chilli
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
4 unripe persimmon, thinly sliced
2 limes, juiced
3 tsp SALISBURY HONEY
Method:
Heat the oil in a large wide pan and, when just about to smoke, add the mustard seeds followed by the curry leaves. Allow to crackle then add the onion, salt and red chilli. Cook on a high heat for 5 minutes then add the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, chilli powder, persimmon, lime juice and honey.
Turn down the heat and cook for 5 minutes to soften the persimmon and deepen the flavour. Taste then leave to cool. Store in a clean jar. It will keep for about a week.
Emily says:
The Salisbury honey brings out the natural sweetness of the persimmon. If you want to take this one step further, you can turn the pickle into a fast curry: simply add coconut milk at the end.
Emily: 'This dish is so easy and delicious, inspired by a Japanese spinach salad that can be eaten hot or cold. Borage honey is my favourite honey to use in dressings; it's light, delicate and not overpowering in flavour. The recipe serves one person and so can easily be multiplied.'
Ingredients:
2 tb tahini
45ml hot water
1 tb white miso
1 tsp borage honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 pinch salt
Method:
Stir everything together in a bowl with a small whisk. Serve with your choice of warm greens, sauteed with garlic and lemon eg. cima di rapa, chard, broccoli or spinach or a combination... Simply finish with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and spring onion.
This is a side dish that is delicious on its own or served with noodles, rice or grilled/roast meat.
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Emily says:
"This Beetroot curry is delicious served warm with cumin rice, fried mackerel or with a creamy ripe avocado, leaves and crumbled goat’s cheese. You could use carrots instead of beetroot to make a bright orange carrot curry – add a couple of cardamom pods if you do. The curry can be made in advance to eat a day or so after and can also be frozen. First prepare all your vegetables, onions, garlic etc so you can chuck it all in together and your job is super-easy."
Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable, rapeseed or coconut oil
10 fresh curry leaves (if possible, otherwise leave out)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large banana shallot, finely sliced into rounds
2 small red chillies, finely sliced
20g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
½ cinnamon stick, broken
20g garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp chilli powder or Turkish chili flakes
500g small raw red beetroots or carrots, washed, peeled and cut into batons (save the leaves and stems for a salad)
150g fresh or tinned tomatoes, roughly chopped
200ml coconut milk
1 tbsp Cinnamon Infused Honey
Juice of 1⁄2 lime
Sea salt
Method:
Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and, just before it starts to smoke, add the curry leaves and then the mustard and cumin seeds. The mustard should crackle and pop immediately. Stir and turn down the heat. Swiftly add the shallot, fresh chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, seasoned with 1 teaspoon sea salt.
Stir in the cinnamon and chilli powder and cook for a few seconds, then add the beetroot, tomatoes, coconut milk, Cinnamon Honey and 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
Bring to the boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes until the beetroot is tender and juicy. Stir in the lime juice and check the seasoning.
Serve with a healthy dollop of yoghurt, lime wedges and fresh mint or dill.
You can also turn this into a spiced beetroot dip by simply whizzing up the cooked curry in a blender and serving with poppadoms.
*As an alternative you can replace the beetroot with carrot, simply add 4 green cardamom seeds with the mustard and cumin seed for a tasty carrot curry.*
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Serves 6. You will need a 1.7 litre pudding basin
Ingredients:
Pudding:
250g Unsalted Butter
250g Dark Muscovado Sugar
40g Black Treacle
40g Isle of Purbeck Honey
3 Medium Eggs
3 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 ½ tsp. Mixed Spice
300g Self Raising Flour
½ tsp. Salt
4 Pieces stem ginger chopped into chunks
Caramel:
80g Double Cream
80g Isle of Purbeck Honey
80g Light Brown sugar
½ tsp. Salt
Method:
Serve with single cream or custard!
Thanks to Emily @sweeterbytheseason
]]>Next up in our handmade series is this stunning Honeyed Blackberry & White Chocolate Meringue Roulade. Emily is using our Borage Honey in this recipe for deeper flavour and making these wicked concoctions a touch saintlier thanks to the health kick of the honey.
Serves 6. You will need a 9x13 inch baking tray
Ingredients:
Honeyed Blackberries
300g Blackberries
50g Borage Honey
1 tsp. Cornflour
2 tsp. Cold Water
White Chocolate Whipped Ganache
250g Whipping Cream
250g White Chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Meringue
120g Egg Whites
200g Caster Sugar
To decorate
200g Whipping Cream
Fresh or Frozen Blackberries to decorate
Method:
Thanks to Emily @sweeterbytheseason for this beautiful creation.
]]>Thanks to Emily @sweeterbytheseason
Serves 8-12. You will need 3 x 6 inch tins, cake turntable and palette knife
Ingredients:
Sponge:
90g Unsalted Butter
200g Caster Sugar
120g Light Brown Sugar
3 Medium Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
240g Plain Flour
200g Buttermilk
4g Bicarbonate of Soda
4g White wine vinegar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Mixed Spice
Syrup:
100g Salisbury Honey
50g Water
Compote:
3 Bramley Apples (roughly 400g)
2 tbsp. Salisbury Honey
1 tsp. Cinnamon
20g Light Brown Sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon
Honey Caramel:
80g Double Cream
80g Salisbury Honey
80g Light Brown Sugar
Buttercream:
277g Caster Sugar
80g Water
150g Egg White
330G Unsalted Butter, softened
2 tsp. Mixed Spice
Method:
Makes 6 - You will need 6 individual tart cases
Ingredients:
150g Butter
90g Icing Sugar
250g Plain Flour
30g Ground Almonds
2g Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Medium Egg
80g Isle of Purbeck Honey
2 eggs
300g Double Cream
45g Muscovado Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
200g Mascarpone
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
75g Icing Sugar
125g Double Cream
1 tsp. Sea Salt Flakes
Method:
Salisbury honey is a beautifully old fashioned honey made by bees which forage on viper’s bugloss, sweet clover and sainfoin. We tasked Emily @sweeterbytheseason to try the honey, and to see where it took her. Its timeless flavour finds the perfect showcase in her Spiced Honey Pear Custard Choux Buns. Emily uses the honey to flavour the pear compote that is spooned into the base of the choux, and in the piped custard filling... double honey heaven!
Makes 10 Choux Buns Prep Time: 60 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Choux Pastry:
100g Water
100g Milk
4g Sugar
4g Salt
90g Butter
110g Plain flour
140g Eggs
Craquelin:
75g Softened butter
90g Plain Flour
90g Sugar
Pear Compote:
4 Pears (400g)
50g Salisbury Honey
1 Bramley Apple
1 tbsp. Water
Spiced Honey Custard:
125ml Milk
125ml Whipping Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 tsp. Mixed spice
30g Sugar
30g Salisbury Honey
2 Egg Yolk
30g Plain Flour
75g Unsalted Butter
200g Whipping Cream
Method:
London pastry chef Emily Brook regularly uses our honey in her delectable creations. We challenged her to come up with a perfect showcase for our Vanilla Infused Honey and she came back with this gorgeous crumble, that marries autumnal fruits with vanilla and almonds.
]]>Method:
We asked Claire Fyfe, super talented Masterchef Finalist 2020, and self-confessed honey fan to sample and enjoy our Ginger&Turmeric Infused honey... and we were delighted when this recipe idea came back!
Honey tossed granola is a favourite at LHC HQ, so we'll definitely be putting her fantastic recipe to the test over the next few weeks. As Claire says, granola is a perfect way to use up all the odd bits in our cupboards, and create something pretty special with it too. You can sub in what you have to hand, but don't forget the honey...
Beetroot, Ginger & Turmeric Granola.
A berry bowl of goodness and bursting with Autumnal glory.
I hate waste and try to use up all the bits and pieces in my fridge, and that’s exactly how this recipe was created. I know it sounds odd, but trust me, the savoury notes sit so well with the sweetness of fruit...
Whizz up the beets, add the most delicious @london_honey_co Ginger & Turmeric honey, fresh ginger, cinnamon and a little pinch of salt. Mix with some rolled oats, sunflower seeds, your favourite nuts and roast for 30 mins. Heaven with some blitzed berries and yoghurt.
You can find Claire on Instagram @clairefyfecooks.
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Julie-Anne, what do you do at London Honey Co?
When a position for the shop came up through my best friend George who is a beekeeper at London Honey Company I jumped at the opportunity. I have been working in the Saturday shop in Spa Terminus for the past 3 years. I do honey tastings in all sorts of places from little neighbourhood delis to high-end food shops. It’s amazing the number of people you can meet in one morning but what I love most about the shop is all the little honey fans. A visit to the honey shop became a regular Saturday morning outing for some families.
Tell us a bit about your past and where you are now.
I studied Communication design at Central Saint Martins, following in the footsteps of Vivienne Westwood, that I for a very long time had admired the rebellious streak of. I found myself heading down the engineering route while studying. And I also found a home in the wood work shops but equally at my desk late at night putting together exploded diagrams of ideas, planning the manufacturing processes all the way down to the surface finish.
In my second year studying Communication design I specialised in Experience and Environment. This allowed me to apply my research and message to mediums that were slightly more unconventional than the traditional graphic designers preferred mediums. A favourite piece was a stairway installation I made for an exhibition at Two Temple Places about jazz music in Britain, which forced visitors to quite literally walk all over my work. I've also built sets for London Fashion Week, last summer I spent my time working in festival set design and this summer I am working more locally on commission based pieces.
When I’m not working, I’m usually exploring London through eating out, window shopping and visiting galleries. Whilst studying at Central Saint Martins, I realised a lot of my peers who I had studied in Shrewsbury where I’m from, didn’t always get the same opportunities to see the exhibitions open in the city. For a long time I made it my goal to visit as many as possible and archive the experience.
You designed some hives for us, can you talk us through the design/illustration you chose?
I grew up in a flower shop in Shrewsbury. I would sit down and draw out line drawings of flowers to photocopy for all my little school friends in reception to colour in while the teacher did the register. I seem to remember being quite hard working whilst I was in primary school, packing flowers with my dad for the grand sum of 50p after school. I was just happy to be able to buy my own sweets. (I’ve always had a sweet tooth, hence the honey)
The flowers in the designs came naturally, and it's the patterns that have started to develop more recently as a result of my graduate project "Break the Pattern." Being a young designer comes with a lot of pressure to find your "style" and it's not until you look at the bigger picture that you can see the pieces falling into place. Some spend years perfecting a style and others never stop developing.
Another inspiration was the chalk drawings that appeared on walls and pavements across the country during lock down. I am, however, a sketch-booker. I think a pen and paper would be the item of choice I’d take to a deserted island. Before every project I spend a lot of time mapping out, practicing and experimenting with colour combinations and references. It’s true that the more love you put into a surface the more you’ll get out. Never underestimate the time it takes to wash, sand and prime.. and then sand again.. and then paint… and then sand. Oh, and paint again.
Lastly, what’s your favourite honey?
What a question?! There is a perceptual phenomenon called Synesthesia, it’s a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulates several of your senses. I learnt about it during a critique, when a girl in the year above me had made a telephone out of jelly as her final piece. It mixes over the senses, many creatives have it and the theory of it is what I apply to honey tasting.
Tasting real honey is an incredible moment. You can taste the notes in each jar. Experiencing landscapes and weather endured by thousands of bees. For example, the Kent Honey is a great one. Sometimes it’s a sunny September day as the morning dew glistens in the warm rays - it is sweet and light but crisp and autumnal. And sometimes it reminds me of a rebellious 12 year old on his way to school, kicking up the leaves as he goes wishing he could spend the day climbing trees and building dams rather than sitting at a desk. The Oxfordshire Honey, when it’s slightly darker, was the first honey that made me go ‘oooo’ at the end - it’s very unsuspecting. To customers in the shop, the only way I know to describe it is as ‘the girl that got away’ because you quite simply don’t know what you’ve got until it's gone.
You can follow Julie-Anne’s journey on @byjulieannepugh and her website www.byjulieannepugh.com