London Honey Festival

It's just past midday on Sunday as I hurry into the entrance of the Royal Festival Hall. I expect it to be fairly empty but the place is buzzing. Capital Growth's honey festival celebrating the huge interest in bee keeping in the city is alive with chatter. Showcasing the huge range of honey available from south London allotment to Liverpool Street Station plus the chance to sample, sign up and support bees.

Stall after stall was packed with families watching show hives, tasting honey, and most importantly, talking to the bee keepers themselves. 

At the back of the room, a queue of people formed, waiting for the chance to taste some of the 50 different honeys on display.  

If you're still buying blended honey from the supermarket try to seek out some of the indiividual honeys for sale at your local farmers' market or independent shop. The range of tastes is a rainbow of sweetness, from delicate florals to deep sticky fudginess that can vary from month to month.

We need bees to pollinate our orchards. That's nothing new. What is exciting is the enthusiasm with which amateur bee keepers are taking it up. If you can't keep bees, the word is out; whether you have a window box, a balcony or garden, grow flowers and plants which will attract bees. 

London honey man Steve Benbow told me years ago that city honey is often more interesting & complex than that from rural areas because of the breathtaking range of plants available in our public parks and gardens. Steve has hives in places as diverse as Wapping, on the roof of Fortnam & Mason, and the London wetlands centre.

A very persuasive person from BeeUrban told me that their Walworth allotment honey has notes of mint and vanilla. I bought some. She's not lying, it really does. 

Camilla Goddard's Greenwich Park honey is Summer moving into Autumn, its floral notes fading into a deep richness.  More about Camilla's bees here

 

Capital Bee is part of Capital Growth, and set up by Sustain to give communities a chance to try their hand at bee keeping.There are now seven training centres and a new generation of enthusiastic apiarists on their way.


You can get involved by adopting a hive; the  
British Beekeepers Association has details