Discover the buzz around local honey
Beekeepers across the Wiltshire are calling on consumers to support their local producer and buy a jar of their honey at the Wiltshire Bee & Honey Day.
The event takes place on Saturday 12 October. The Wiltshire Beekeepers’ Association (WBKA) represents more than 500 members in Wiltshire. To explain the issues, Lynne Ingram, Chair and Founder of the Honey Authenticity Network UK, will be one of the keynote speakers at the event.
Honey fraud is the third biggest food fraud in the world. According to the International Trade Centre, the UK imported an average of 50,917 tonnes of honey in 2023. Some of this will have been adulterated, with added sugars, an ultrafiltration process and even the removal of pollen from the final product. Jars and bottles of ‘honey’ can be bought off the shelf for as little as 69p, but often feature a blend of products from a number of different countries.
Lynne’s fascinating talk lifts the lid on the how, why and wherefore of honey fraud and adulteration, and the way that it impacts on the livelihoods of beekeepers around the world as well as the UK.
In contrast, the Wiltshire Beekeepers Association argues that local honey means real honey. It is made by bees collecting nectar from flowers in Wiltshire, the honey is then extracted from the comb and bottled by each beekeeper, featuring all the goodness that comes with keeping the final product as close to nature as possible.
Plants vary widely across the Wiltshire landscape, so every beekeeper will produce honey with a different look and taste, offering an endless array of experiences depending on location and season. In fact, National Honey Judges at the Wiltshire Bee & Honey Day’s Honey Show will be sampling pots of honey from a wide range of local producers to identify the best honey in Wiltshire – a hotly contested trophy on the day.
Meanwhile, because the product is extracted and sold within the community, the money spent on a jar of honey will be directly reinvested back into the local economy, helping to support small businesses and secure the future legacy of beekeeping within the UK.
Sophie Butcher, Chair of the WBKA, said: "As a beekeeper I know honey from my own hive tastes delicious and I’m always keen to try other beekeepers’ honey as it really does vary so much. Many of our beekeepers will be selling honey at the Wiltshire Bee & Honey Day, where a map of the honeys for sale will help purchasers identify those that come from hives near where they live.”
The event is on Saturday, 12 October 2024 at the Corn Exchange, Devizes SN10 1HS – Entry is FREE.
The event is sponsored by Eden Renewables and Whitehall Vineyard.
Find out more. www.wiltshirebeekeepers.co.uk
