Dip into our honeypot and find recipes, beauty treatments and remedies from the hive.

Honey bee fossils dating back 150 million years indicate that honey bees developed in their present form long before the presence of mammals. Cave paintings in Spain, and the discovery of clay pots within the tomb of Tutankhamun with inscriptions on the side indicating that they originally contained honey, show that man has been exploiting the labour of the bees for 7,000 years.

Honey production is hugely labour intensive – for the bee! It is estimated that the bees must visit 2 million flowers and fly 55,000 miles to produce 1lb of honey.

Honey is well known as a food source, sweetener and ingredient in dishes across the world, but honey is not the only product from the hive. There is beeswax, royal jelly, bee venom and propolis, and together with honey these are used for a myriad of medicinal, cosmetic, and household purposes, from treating wounds to polishing furniture.