It’s been a tough year for bees, but our first honey harvest is ready to sell.
It took a long time for summer to warm up this year, with lots of rain and cool weather – not the perfect conditions for our ‘Buckfast bees’ to get out and forage for nectar – but the good news is that we’ve just finished our first ever Babylon honey harvest! Limited to 130 jars for 2024 they are now on sale in our shop and restaurant.
The story of our honey
We installed our hives in early 2024 and chose a quiet spot in one of our fields which means that our bees can get on with their honey production without being disturbed. This area is also very close to the Ashdown Forest with flora and fauna that provides a great source of food for the colonies.
Why buy local honey?
Buying local honey means that you can support local beekeepers.
- The carbon footprint is minimal. Our honey has travelled about 100 metres from the hives to our shop!
- We can trace every step of the honey journey as we’ve looked after the hives and the bees.
- We know how pure this honey is. It’s straight from the honeycomb and so has lots of natural enzymes and a wonderful flavour.
- It is unpasturised so hasn’t been through the processing of mass produced supermarket honey.
The honey harvest
We started monitoring our hives every week, opening our hives and checking on the health of the colonies, the weight of the honey and how the weather is affecting the hive. At the end of August we knew it was time for the harvest.
The finished product
This harvest this year is limited to 130 jars, so once it’s gone it’s gone! Find it in our shop and restaurant priced at £10 per jar.