Choosing honey produced near where you live has proven benefits – for you, the bees and for local biodiversity. And as Farmer Freeman explains to Lucy Callington, since it also happens to taste great on toast – it’s a win-win situation.
For years, villagers have flocked to Pete and Sarah Freeman’s Buxhall Farm to take their pick of trees in the Christmas barn in December and pick up a pumpkin or two in October. Now the entrepreneurial farmers have added another string to their bow – producing local honey.
Starting out small, the Freemans agreed to sell local beekeeper Chris Jones’ Histon honey alongside their Christmas trees in December 2021. When Chris sadly became unwell a few years later, and decided to finish keeping bees, the couple started working alongside Somersham Honey and expanded Somersham’s production by setting up apiaries at their farms: Buxhall in Histon and Mansel in Oakington. And the couple have plans for further expansion…
Pete Freeman explains what makes locally produced honey so special: “Our honey is fresh, unheated and local. Shop-bought honey is usually heated, pasteurised and has a greater carbon footprint since it’s often come from much further away”.
Plus, he continues, “mass-market brands are sometimes blended from multiple global sources or diluted with cheap syrups.”
Nature’s medicine
Honey is widely considered to have natural health benefits. It’s naturally rich in antioxidants and is known for soothing coughs and sore throats. But the heating process mass manufactured honey goes through can denature the natural enzymes and proteins, reducing its natural antioxidant levels.
Pete is enthusiastic about the benefits of ‘medical grade’ or raw honey, sharing, “it can heal as it has anti-inflammatory properties to help to treat minor burns and wounds. It is also well known also for helping hay fever sufferers, especially if you can source honey from near where you live!”
But he does note that honey should not be given to babies under one year as it can contain bacterial spores that can cause illness. It is also not recommended for diabetics.
The longevity of honey is another key benefit. Honey doesn’t expire in the traditional sense and has an indefinite shelf life when stored in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight and moisture to maintain its quality.
Propping up the ecosystem
Bees are keystone species in our ecosystem, helping to maintain plant biodiversity. According to the Woodland Trust, without bees “it wouldn’t be long before our ecosystem collapsed” since they pollinate wild trees and flowers, which in turn support other insects, which support birds, bats, mammals and everything up the food chain with food and shelter.
Estimates by the Trust suggest that; without bees it would cost UK farmers an incredible £1.8 billion a year to manually pollinate their crops.
Pete agrees: “Bees really are vital as they help increase agriculture crop yields which in turn helps with supporting both human food systems and livestock production”.
“Buying local honey helps support your local bees and the people who care for them”, he continues. “Choosing local honey, from a neighbourhood beekeeper, farm shop, market stall or independent retailer helps protect our pollinators and the ecosystems they sustain”.
From beehive to the breakfast table
Pete explains, “honey production is a complex interplay between bee biology and human processing.” Here, he shares with us the process from the bees to your breakfast table:
- Honey is produced by bees through nectar collection, enzymatic conversion and evaporation.
- Bees deposit the nectar into the honeycomb cells made of beeswax. They fan their wings to evaporate excess water to reduce the water content from about 80% down to about 18%, which prevents fermentation and preserves the honey.
- Once the honey has reached the desired consistency, the bees seal the cells with wax to store it for future use (winter).
- Beekeepers harvest the frames with the capped (sealed cells) honey.
- The cells or frames are uncapped and the honey is then extracted by spinning the comb (frame) in a centrifuge.
- The honey is filtered to remove remaining wax particles and other impurities – ready for eating.
Farmer Freemans honey will be available to buy from Buxhall Farm when they open for their annual pumpkin picking event from 10am-4pm 17-18 October and 24-31 October. And then again from the end of November with the Christmas trees. See HI HUB What’s On for details nearer the time.
READ ALSO: And is there honey still for tea? | HI HUB; 501 species of flora and fauna found in just one day… | HI HUB
