Warton Honey

07/10/2026

Reflecting on a wonderful day at the Warwickshire Beekeepers' Honey Show! 🍯✨

We were absolutely delighted to receive a 'Highly Commended' award for our presented light honey entry. Preparing jars for showing is a meticulous craft—ensuring crystal-clear clarity, precise fill levels, and preserving those delicate floral notes gathered from our local countryside forage.

Of course, not everything went entirely to plan! Despite practising the official honey cake recipe beforehand, our bake on the morning of the show didn't quite hit the mark and sank right in the middle. 🍰

Half the joy of taking part is the process itself—and the sunken cake made for a delicious, moist treat alongside a warm cup of tea at home. Safe to say, it didn't last long at all!

04/10/2026

Good to see the activity in the hive.

04/10/2026

Checking on the hives around Warton this morning to ensure our colonies are settling down and taking their winter fondant stores. 🐝🍂

While inspecting the hive entrances, we spotted something wonderful: worker bees arriving back with heavy baskets of fresh pollen! Bringing in pollen this late in autumn is a brilliant sign—it tells us the queen is still laying and the colony is actively rearing its vital final brood of 'winter bees'.

Unlike summer bees, who work tirelessly for around 6 weeks during the main nectar flow, winter bees are physiologically different. They build up rich fat bodies that allow them to live up to 4 times longer, conserving their energy to cluster tightly together and keep the queen warm until spring. It is a quiet, fascinating shift in the apiary as nature prepares for the colder months ahead. 🍯✨

What seasonal shifts are you noticing in your gardens around North Warwickshire this week?

28/09/2026

Getting the hives tucked up for winter! 🐝🍂

While extraction is wrapped up behind the scenes, our full attention in the apiary has turned to winter preparations. Ensuring our colonies enter the colder months strong, healthy, and well-fed is always our top priority.

This week, we’ve been testing the early use of baker’s fondant across the hives. Unlike liquid syrup, fondant provides a low-moisture, reliable source of carbohydrates that won't raise internal humidity during cold snaps. We split the 12.5 kg blocks right down the centre, expose a strip of sugar paste, and lay them directly over the top bars so the bees can easily access the feed as temperatures drop.

We have spotted spot striking late-season visitors around our hives. It’s easy to panic thinking they are hornets, but this handsome visitor is actually a Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria). They are completely harmless nectar-lovers using clever mimicry to look tough, and they pose no threat to our bees!

Caring for our colonies comes first, but the rewards of their hard work are ready now.

Fresh 340g jars of our Summer Signature Runny Honey and our favourite Soft Set Honey are available today for £7.00.

How to purchase:

* Honesty Box: Pop by our cashless honesty box at Warton Honey (The Lodge, Willows Farm). Easy card payments on-site!
* Village Drop-Off: Message us directly for local delivery within Warton village.
* Local Stockists: Warton Village Shop and MJ Smith Butchers in Polesworth (also at Tori & Ben's Farm Shop, Melbourne).

Thank you for supporting our local hives! 🍯
www.wartonhoney.co.uk

16/09/2026

The journey from comb to jar. 🍯✨

Once our supers are carefully removed from the hives, we store them under seal to keep every frame as pristine as the moment the bees capped it. When extraction day arrives, the hard work begins.

First, we gently pare away the delicate wax cappings from each frame over our collection tubs. The uncapped frames are then transferred into our stainless steel spinner, where centrifugal force draws the raw honey out without the use of artificial heat.

To ensure complete clarity while preserving every bit of natural goodness, we run the honey through a series of stainless sieves and a final fine nylon sieve . This removes any stray wax flakes and hive debris, leaving us with pure, unheated, raw summer honey settling in our tanks.

Our bees foraged across the mid-summer wildflowers and hedgerows of Warton and the surrounding countryside, so this batch captures a light, flowery flavour with a classic, clear runny texture that drizzling over breakfast requires. It takes time, patience, and gentle hands—but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Fresh 340g jars of our summer signature runny honey are available today. Our seasonal yields are small and meticulously crafted, stocks move quickly.

How to purchase: Pop by our cashless honesty box at Warton Honey (The Lodge, Willows Farm), message us directly for local village delivery, or visit our local stockists at Warton Village Shop and MJ Smith Butchers in Polesworth. Also available at Tori and Ben's Farm Shop, Melbourne, Derby.

www.wartonhoney.co.uk

13/09/2026

Late-summer warmth and rain across North Warwickshire signal a quiet, vital shift in the apiary. 🐝🍂

While extraction is underway behind the scenes, caring for our colonies always comes first. We have officially completed our essential varroa parasite treatments across the hives. It can be an intense adjustment for the bees; as the treatment takes effect, you will often see them 'bearding'—clustering together outside the hive entrance as they regulate their environment inside.

Nature also throws the occasional curveball. During our recent checks, we found one colony had rejected their queen. To ensure they stay strong and resilient for the colder months ahead, we united them with another colony using the traditional paper method. By placing a sheet of newspaper between the two boxes, the bees gradually chew through it over a couple of days. This slow merge allows their scents to blend peacefully into a single colony.

Our husbandry work never stops, but the rewards of their hard work are ready now. Fresh 340g jars of our summer signature runny honey are available today. Our seasonal yields are small and meticulously crafted, stocks move quickly.

How to purchase: Pop by our cashless honesty box at Warton Honey (The Lodge, Willows Farm), message us directly for local village delivery, or visit our local stockists at Warton Village Shop and MJ Smith Butchers in Polesworth. Also available at Tori and Ben's Farm Shop, Melbourne, Derby.

www.wartonhoney.co.uk

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

29/08/2026

Preparations for the end of the beekeeping year..