Honey FAQs

What is Raw Honey

Raw honey is best thought of as honey as it is in the beehive or intended to be as it is left by the bees. Therefore this should mean the honey undergoes minimal processing and is not heat treated.

This ensures that all the structure of the honey is intact and just as the bees intended.

All the honey produced by Northumberland Honey Co can be considered ‘Raw Honey’ as it is not heat treated, is cold extracted and also available in cut comb format, just as the bees left it.

Organic Raw Honey

As bees forage upto 5 miles to gather nectar there is unfortunately no where in the UK where honey can be produced that can be certified as organic.

Bees are free to forage in peoples gardens and verges and you cannot control where a bee forages.

Rather than being organic honey, the main thing to look for in quality UK honey is that it is raw and minimally processed and strict standards such as SALSA and an 5 star rating is awarded by environmental health.

At Northumberland Honey Co we work to SALSA standards, being able to trace each jar back to the very hives the honey was produced from and have a 5 star environmental health rating. We also use organic treatment methods for bee health.

Can babies eat honey?

Babies under the age of 12 months should not be given honey. This is because there is a theoretical risk of botulism spores being present in honey.

In reality botulism from honey is extremely rare, but as an infants developing digestive system cannot handle this it is best to avoid giving infants under 12 months of age honey.