The Hive Honey Shop Bee Talk at Fortnum & Mason Piccadilly London

Just in! Exciting News! We can now confirm that James our Master Beekeeper will be holding an evening 'Sweet Delight' Honey Talk/Demonstration at Fortnum & Mason Piccadilly, London on Wednesday May 9th at 6:30.Tickets £25. Reservations telephone: 0845 602 5694.

James was awarded a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship to further his research into beekeeping & bee diseases. As part of his commitment to QEST James helps to fund raise for them by donating his time to speak to groups about honey, beekeeping and how to become a beekeeper.

In support of QEST, Fortnum & Mason have agreed to stage an in store exhibition to celebrate the handmade crafts created by Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholars in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Thirty-two QEST scholars will present their crafts for sale from 6 February to 29 July 2012, and are also happy to discuss commissions and personalised items. A schedule of special event demonstrations & talks will take place at various times & dates throughout the exhibition period.

Under the patronage of the Royal Warrant Holders’ Association, QEST enables talented craftsmen and women to fulfil their potential through education and apprenticeships. QEST’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee Fundraising Appeal aims to raise funds to double their annual scholarships.

For more information have a look at:

Fortnum & Mason: http://www.fortnumandmason.com/c-521-qest-crafting-excellence.aspx

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust: http://www.qest.org.uk

Honeycomb of all sizes for sales!!

Seasons Greetings! Only a few more days to go before Christmas. There is still time to pop into The Hive Honey Shop and pick up some truly unique gifts. Our edible Honeycomb is flying out the door! We have 5 different types of English Honey Comb on offer.

Try:

1 English Wildflower Honeycomb packed in a neat white plastic tub, 226g!

2 NZ Wildflower Honeycomb - Large Square Section packed in a wooden box 340g!

3 English Wildflower Honeycomb packed in a Massive Whole Frame from the hive 1.5kg!

4 English Sainfoin Gold Honeycomb packed in a Massive Whole Frame from the hive 2.5kg!- You get the entire wooden frame completely untouched as it was when lifted out of the beehive.

5 English Ling Heather Honeycomb packed in a Massive Whole Frame from the hive 2.5kg!-You get the entire wooden frame completely untouched as it was when lifted out of the beehive.

6 English Honeycomb in English Honey- 454g . Looks great- A Big Jar filled with clear honey and a lovely chunk of honeycomb- just heaven!

May we wish you A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A RELAXING JOYOUS NEW YEAR!

from all of us here at The Hive Honey Shop & our well loved bees!

WE WON!! London's 'shop of shops' Award 2011

The Hive Honey Shop were shortlisted to receive an award by the prestigious London Magazine. The awards venue was held on November 29th at the beautiful and atmospheric London Burlington Arcade London W1 with canapes & Champagne flowing. The Hive Honey Shop were shortlisted for a possible award- 'best food shop'. Well we did not win that and we felt a bit disappointed and deflated. There was still the top award, over all award for the best London 'shop of shops' and that we won!

James went up on stage and accepted the award, "It was a big surprise! After hearing the we had not won the award we were there for, I felt the evening had come to an end. Then they announced that the main overall award was still to be revealed. I dismissed our chances because there were so many amazing shops there and some very well established businesses within the six categories. I was speechless when they announced The Hive Honey Shop was the overall winner".

We would just like to thank London Magazine for their commitment in supporting small London businesses through their amazing magazine and wonderful awards campaign. We are grateful to them for acknowledging our small family run business. The evening was a night we will remember for many years to come.

Visit London Magazine at : www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk

In support of The Great Little Shop Awards. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, says:

"London is an Aladdin’s cave of hidden boutiques, vintage clothes dens and quirky retailers offering visitors everything under the sun. These unique shops are essential in helping to put the village into the city and are a vital thread in the fabric of the capital. In these tough economic times on the high street, small independent businesses need all the support they can get. So it is fantastic to see them being recognised through these awards."

London Magazine says:

"London has some of the best, most inventive, inspirational – and sometimes eccentric – shops in the world. To celebrate and support them, The London Magazine asks readers to nominate their favourite shops. It could be just one that you feel very strongly about or it could be one in each of the six categories".

Honey laundering in the USA

This was an interesting article we found relating to honey being ultra fine filtered to remove pollen. We at The Hive Honey Shop are against this practice. We believe that not only does it rob the natural honey of so much of its nutritional value, but renders it useless for those wishing to help with their hayfever. Now we learn others do this to mask where the honey originates from. Read on:

Honey Laundering

Recent tests conducted by Food Safety News show that about 75% of the honey sold in US grocery stores isn't officially honey.

The results show that the pollen frequently has been filtered out of products labeled "honey." The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies.

The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others also have ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration says that any product that's been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen isn't honey. However, the FDA isn't checking honey sold here to see if it contains pollen.

Anyway, there is speculation that the pollen removal is masking the use of unregulated, uninspected, and illegally imported Chinese honey.

Eric Wenger, director of quality services for Golden Heritage Foods, the nation's third largest packer, said his company takes every precaution not to buy laundered Chinese honey.

"We are well aware of the tricks being used by some brokers to sell honey that originated in China and laundering it in a second country by filtering out the pollen and other adulterants," said Wenger, whose firm markets 55 million pounds of honey annually under its Busy Bee brand, store brands, club stores and food service.

"The brokers know that if there's an absence of all pollen in the raw honey we won't buy it, we won't touch it, because without pollen we have no way to verify its origin."

Hear Our Radio Interview- Beekeeping ONFM 101.4 FM Radio

The Hive Honey Shop were asked to take part in an in depth radio interview about City Beekeeping. Andrea Rangercroft, the interviewer popped by the shop and asked James our expert beekeeper, 'what does it take to look after bees in a city environment'. Andrea was particularly interested in the shop, how we make our honey products and the long history of beekeeping in James's family.

Andrea says:

Every single honey bee in Britain today comes from a hive maintained by a beekeeper. Honey bees have been under threat in recent years, but the history of beekeeping stretches back thousands of years and it’s now coming to the city. Urban beekeeping is becoming increasingly popular and, as Andrea finds out in this programme, it is no longer just about making honey.

In this edition of Views behind the news, Andrea visits the beehives at the Camley Street Natural Park with Alison Benjamin from Urban Bees. They discuss the history of beekeeping in London and the practicalities of keeping bees in the city without upsetting your neighbours.

She also discovers the art of making honey from James Hamill, a man who comes from generations of beekeepers and now helps run The Honey Hive Shop in Battersea.

Listen to the programme (MP3) Click link below:

http://andrearangecroft.co.uk/2011/10/24/bees-in-the-city/

Honeycomb & the new Ridley Scott Alien prequel film

The Hive Honey Shop has been supplying wild honeycomb to the prop/set designers for the new Ridley Scott Alien prequel film. What we understand is that silicone moulds were made using the empty honeycomb pieces we supplied. The complex hexagon cells will be playing an important part in the film.

Nice to know we helped and look forward to seeing how our honeycomb will look on the big screen! We read that Scott mentioned he hoped to have the film out in late 2011 or perhaps sometime in 2012.

Charity Work & Social Commitment at The Hive Honey Shop

The Hive Honey Shop has a long standing record of supporting the local community with free children 'Bee Talks'. They take time out of their busy day and set aside the time to provide charity work to improve better understanding of why honeybees are so important to our planet and why we need to look after them well.

Yesterday 30 children from The White House Preparatory School were treated to one of The Hive Honey Shop's free 'bee talks' now into their twentieth year. There were two group sessions. The first were 15 children ages 5-6. The next session 16 children ages 6-7. The talk covers why and how bees make honey and pollinate plants, who are the enemies of the honeybee, why they are so important to us and how we can help them survive.

Chris from The Hive Honey Shop said, We try and make it an experience they will long remember. There are simple visual aids, like our finger bee puppet, honey bear hand puppet, flowers, honeycomb to feel and smell. The speaker wears a full bee suit which the kids find fascinating. They leave with a great deal of knowledge, free stickers and beeswax pieces. The talks take place at the shop. We all stop what we are doing, and put education before profit. It is our hope that these children will grow up with fond memories of having learned how to embrace and support the natural world around them.