FAQs

Wessex is the historic name for a region of Southern England, once an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Today, it is used to describe an area broadly covering parts of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and the surrounding counties.

For us, the name reflects both place and heritage. Our honey comes from bees kept in the Hampshire countryside, in and around the old Wessex landscape- a part of England shaped by villages, fields, woods, hedgerows, wildflowers and ancient chalk downland.

Honey is the natural food made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Bees collect nectar, bring it back to the hive, and gradually transform it by adding enzymes and reducing its moisture content from around 80% to below 20% by fanning it with their wings.

Once the honey is ready, the bees store it in wax comb and seal it with a thin layer of beeswax. For the colony, it is their food reserve. For us, it is a naturally sweet product that reflects the flowers, hedgerows and trees the bees have been visiting.

A healthy honey bee colony can make far more honey than it needs, especially during a good spring or summer flow. Ethical beekeeping involves only taking surplus honey from the hive, while making sure the bees have more than enough stores left for themselves.

As a rough guide, a colony needs around 20 kg of food stores to get through winter, though this varies with colony size, hive type and weather. Their health and welfare always come first: if a colony needs its honey, we leave it there. Good beekeeping is about working with the bees, not taking from them recklessly.

It is often said that real honey isn't cheap, and cheap honey isn't real, and we agree with this statement. Supermarket honey is often produced, blended and packed on a very large scale. Many jars are labelled as a “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, which can mean honey from several different countries mixed together. While that may be legal, it makes the true origin of the honey impossible to trace.

There are well-publicised concerns about honey fraud in international supply chains, particularly the addition of cheap sugar syrups. In 2023, a European Commission investigation found that 46% of sampled imported honey was suspicious for adulteration. More recently, UK retailer testing reported by the Honey Authenticity Network found that 24 out of 25 retail samples were flagged as suspicious.

Our honey is different. We know exactly where it comes from, how the bees have been cared for, and how the honey has been handled from hive to jar. It's important to remember that a 454g jar of our honey represents the entire working lives of around 900 bees, over 50,000 miles of flight and over 2,000,000 flowers visited. 

Real honey is not just a sweetener. It is a local, seasonal food with a clear connection to the place it came from.

Yes, though there is no agreement on the definition of 'raw' honey. Our honey is raw in the sense that it is not heated beyond hive temperature- it's certainly not pasteurised- and it's not heavily processed or blended. It is extracted from the comb, gently filtered, and jarred in small batches.

Sometimes honey needs to be warmed slightly to help it flow, especially if it has begun to crystallise, but we keep this as gentle as possible, and we never raise honey temperature beyond that of the hive. Our aim is to keep the honey as close to its natural state as we can.

Crystallisation is completely natural and does not mean the honey has gone off. In fact, we see it as a hallmark of its quality. 

Honey contains natural sugars, mainly glucose and fructose. Over time, the glucose can form crystals, causing the honey to become thicker, cloudy or set. Some honeys crystallise very quickly, especially spring honey from crops such as Oilseed Rape, while others stay runny for much longer.

It is still perfectly good to eat. Many people actually prefer crystallised honey because it is easier to spread.

Place the jar in a bowl of warm water and allow it to soften slowly. Stir occasionally, and replace the water frequently so it remains warm. Avoid boiling water, microwaving, or direct high heat, as this can damage the enzymes within the honey, as well as its flavour and natural character. Gentle warmth is best. It may take a little time, but the honey will gradually return to a liquid state.

Store honey at room temperature, with the lid firmly on, away from direct sunlight and strong heat. There is no need to keep honey in the fridge. In fact, cooler temperatures can make honey crystallise more quickly. A kitchen cupboard or pantry is ideal. Honey keeps extremely well when stored properly, although it may naturally crystallise over time.

No. Honey should not be given to babies under 12 months old. This is because honey can occasionally contain bacteria that may cause infant botulism, a rare but serious illness in babies. NHS advice is clear that honey should be avoided until a child is over one year old. Honey is safe for older children and adults.

Sometimes, but only when it is absolutely needed for the bees’ welfare, and where the alternative would be that the colony would starve.

Beekeepers may feed bees sugar syrup at certain times of year, especially if a colony is short of food, newly established, or needs support going into winter. This is done to help the bees, not to produce honey.

We never feed sugar syrup while honey boxes are on the hive for harvest. The honey we jar is made by the bees from nectar gathered from flowers, trees and hedgerows.