Local Ringwood Honey - Harvest Notes 2016

Local Ringwood Honey 2016 Harvest Notes 

2016 was an average year for production I guess - 40 lbs.  The weather was pretty much standard for this part of the UK. A reasonably warm spring and the usual mixed summer. Not too hot, plenty of rain and the odd few days when the nectar flow was strong. 

The 2016 crop of Ringwood Honey was a glorious amber colour and the taste was wonderful. 

April

The bees were pretty active in the spring. Bringing in a lot of stores and enjoyaing the warmer weather. 

 

April through August 

The bees foraged on the many local wild flowers and cultivated blooms in the area. There seemed to be an abundance of clover this year which they seemed to really go for. 

Much of the area where they forage is wild and there are many varieties of flowers for them to forage on. I'm not very good at knowing what the flowers are called though - will have to invest in a book! 

Lip balm 

After the harvest I was left with a fair amount of wax - so decided to make lip balm from a recipe I found on the web. It turned out pretty well and I'll consider making more. 

 

2016 Ringwood Honey jars and label design

For the 2016 crop I bought square 1/2 llb jars  and used transparent square labels.