Our London borough specific honeys from Pearly Queen are super popular so we thought it was about time they got the Producer Spotlight treatment!

Not your regular company

Pearly Queen is a collective of urban beekeepers who keep bees and educate the public on bees. The sales of honey help support urban bee keeping in London. They have been operating since 2010. Masterminded by Meetal Patel a super passionate urban bee keeper.

What is different about London Honey?

Honey made in London has an interesting flavour due to the wide range of plants the bees are foraging on. But even further each brough has a distinctive flavour due to the mix of popular plants in that area. Hackney for example is a light and floral honey.

They do not blend their honeys, it is raw, and it does not have anything added. Just filtered to get the bits out!

Why do you run out of honey in the summer?

Pearly Queen (and other ethical bee keepers) only harvest from their hives once a year in Autumn. So once the stocks are out we have to wait until the next harvest.

Which borough's honey do you stock and what are their flavour profiles?

Hackney - Light sunflower front notes with rounded hints of apricot

Walthamstow - light citrus notes with a caramel flavour

Finsbury Park - Delicate hints of rosewater and a subtle citrus undertone

Why has my honey set?

All honey will at some point turn to sugar crystals. This is a natural process. The crystals may be large or small, grainy and sandy or smooth and creamy. The type of crystals depend on the type of flowers the honey bee visited when she gathered the blossom’s nectar.

The floral source determines how quickly the honey will turn into a solid form. Some raw honeys will stay in a liquid form for quite a while. Others will turn to a solid form within a few weeks. This is not honey turned bad and does not affect the taste or quality of honey. To turn it back to a liquid gently warm the jar in hot, but not boiling water.

Want to meet some of the bees and bee keepers?

Pearly Queen runs Bee Experiences, where the public can learn all about how a hive works, how bees communicate and get up close and personal with the bees themselves.

Check out their Bento page for dates, more info and booking. Plus their Instagram is @pearlyqueenhoney

Jars

They do not have capacity to take the jars back. But you can reuse them for Get Loose shopping. Perfect for bullion, yeast flakes, seeds and many other products