PURE Honey From The Derbyshire Peak District
Buy our honey made by bees kept in the beautiful Peak District National Park only £5.50 per 340g / 12oz jar. We produce both runny and set honey.
Buy our honey made by bees kept in the beautiful Peak District National Park only £5.50 per 340g / 12oz jar. We produce both runny and set honey.
The Peak District was the first area in the UK to be recognised as a National Park due to its outstanding natural beauty. As a result of its National Park protected status the Peak District has remained unspoilt and is a haven for many plant and animal species.
The wild heather covered moors, rugged upland terrain, combined with the harsh winters, make the vast majority of the Peak District unsuitable for modern intensive farming. This is ideal for our bees, as it means they aren't exposed to pesticides or insecticides sprayed by farmers. It's also great for the purity of our honey, made from the nectar of the many flower species found in our diverse landscape. Our bees are fortunate to live in an environment that is increasingly rare these days in UK. In the Peak District, hedgerows, woodland areas, heather moors and wild flower meadows are still common. This floral diversity ensures the health of our hives as well as the great taste of our honey.
At Package Bees UK we always put our bees first. We genuinely care about them and keep them as ethically as we can. Any honey our bees make that we can harvest is just a bonus. The most important thing for us is that our bees are happy and healthy. We never carry out practices that harm our colonies and we only ever take away surplus honey that they don't need themselves. In fact our bees are so well looked after that they have continued to breed and multiply in number every year over the past 25 years. As a result of this we are able to sell around 100 new colonies (1.2 million bees) bred and raised here in the Peak District every year. The colonies we sell go to new beekeepers - helping to restock the rest of the UK with these wonderful creatures. By buying our honey, you are supporting our bee-breeding efforts which helps to ensure the survival of our vitally important honey bees.
The first part of our honey extraction process is to carefully cut away the wax cappings that the bees use to seal the fresh honey in the honeycomb.
When the cappings are removed, the honeycomb is ready to be gently spun in a stainless steel centrifuge. This removes the honey from the wax comb. Our honey is then drained from the centrifuge and passes though a stainless steel strainer which is specially designed to remove large particles of wax whilst still leaving all the pollen grains and nutrients in the honey.
Our honey is allowed to stand for around 24 hours in a stainless steel settling tank before it is bottled by hand.
Our runny honey is gently heated in a carefully controlled process to ensure that it remains in a liquid state for as long as possible .
Our set honey is not subjected to any heating during extraction or processing, it is 100% raw and natural. After bottling our set honey is allowed to set naturally in the jar. This usually takes around a month, but depends on what flowers the bees have foraged on.
By allowing our Peak District honey to set naturally in the jar we ensure it retains all of its flavour. You can taste the floral diversity of the Peak District in every jar of our set honey. Pure honey, allowed to set naturally, develops a characteristic frosted appearance. This is a hallmark of both the quality of the honey and an assurance that it is unprocessed.
"Frosting" - often visible through the glass of our jars of set honey is caused by the honey shrinking away from the glass jar slightly as it sets. This leaves a unique pattern of honey crystals on the inside of every jar.
There is a delivery charge of £2.95 for all orders. We only deliver within the UK.
You are welcome to visit us at packagebeesuk.com if you are interested in taking a beekeeping course, or buying bees and beekeeping equipment.
Hill House, Birchover, Nr. Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 2BN contact james@packagebeesuk.com Tel 01629 650457