BEEKEEPING MYTH-BUSTING

Celia F. Davis

Hampton hives (of the beekeeping variety) are go. But before we get all honey-fingered, we want to do some beekeeping myth-busting. Celia Davis was, until recently, Chairperson of the Warwickshire Beekeepers’ Association. She’s had two books published; The Honey Bee Inside Out and The Honey Bee Around and About (but assures me a third is not on the cards). We think she’s the woman to debunk some untruths…

‘I started beekeeping 37 years ago. I have a degree in agriculture you see, and always had an interest in insects (when I was nine I’d collect butterflies), but when it comes to insects they don’t come better than bees.’

A Sting in the Tail – are we honey thieves?

We’ve been reading up on whether harvesting honey is ethical. We’ve read the vegan onslaughts on the people who steal from the hardworking honey bee. I pose the question of ethics to Celia:

‘I don’t really know what you’re trying to get at.’ Celia retorts. This is a woman who works relentlessly to care for bees, so I understand her frustration. ‘We beekeepers provide honey bees with their hives which are their homes. We stop them swarming, protect them from predators and ensure they have provisions for winter. The honey that we take from them is surplus. It’s the same as anything; commercial farming raises the questions of ethics, but amateur beekeepers play a vital service in actually preventing the honey bee from dying out.’

It’s a symbiotic relationship, but I can see from Celia’s reply that her focus is on the strengthening of a species which could otherwise have died out were it not for the hard work of beekeepers. And we need those bees.

The Honeymoon Period – do we need more beekeepers?

‘Not really, no. The number of beekeepers has increased. A lot of people rush into it without knowing what is involved. It is a lot of hard work and there’s a lot to do. It’s a physical job, too, as there is a lot of lifting. These people start, keep going for a year or two, their colony gets diseased, they get disheartened and lose interest.’

‘In London, there are so many bees, living predominantly in rooftop hives, that their crops of honey have gone right down because there’s a limited amount of forage about. You might have lots of flowers for a short period, but then you’ll have a dearth. The biggest problem is not the number of beekeepers, but the lack of flowers. People would do better to plant lots of bee-friendly flowers.’

Honey terroir – can we control the flavour of honey?

‘No. You can’t control where bees go. They will fly up to three miles for crops. That’s not to say that honey from different areas and apiaries don’t have distinctive flavours. You’re [Hampton Manor is] surrounded by oilseed rape and that finishes up almost pure honey. Honey crystallises as it stands. Some will crystallise slowly, some fast. But oilseed rape honey crystallises with a very smooth, fine, crystal. Similarly, I recently visited a friend in Wimbledon and their honey tasted very different to my own, there’s just very little that you can do to control the flavour characteristics.’

‘Most honeys in this country are blends. Commercial honey is often travelled over on ships and then blended all together which means that honeys from different locations and harvested at different times of year are all thrown together.’

Sugar, ah honey honey – is honey good for you? 

‘Honey itself is mainly sugar and water, glucose and fructose with a few other things in it, but not very much of anything else. It’s antiseptic simply because it’s acidic and also contains a small amount of hydrogen peroxide. Manuka honey, which no doubt you’ve heard of, has a special Manuka factor that makes it more antiseptic so it kills bacteria better than ordinary honey. You can buy dressings with honey in them for sterilisation. It’s great on wounds because it is a super-saturation of sugar which will draw water into itself and so will draw bacteria out of wounds. People say ‘I take honey for my hay fever’ but that’s a bit of an old wives’ tale. Pollen provides all the nutrients that nectar and honey don’t.’

Hampton Hives 

I asked Celia if she uses honey in cooking. She doesn’t tend to, although tonight she’s drizzling it on gooseberries and almonds for dessert. But now we’ve convinced you that it’s ok to eat honey, in moderation, check out Loic’s honey cocktail recipe over in our Roots to Restaurant blog.