The Gentle Art of Extraction
Honey extraction is the heart of the harvest—it's how we carefully collect the liquid sunshine the bees have worked so hard to make. At Hadley Wood Honey, extraction isn't just a step in a factory; it's a gentle, small-scale craft. By using time-honoured methods, we ensure every jar remains as pure as the hive intended, respecting the hard work of the colony at every turn.
Stage 1: Careful Uncapping
The first step in our gentle harvest is to uncover the storehouses the bees have so carefully filled. Once they have fanned the honey to the perfect moisture content, the bees seal each cell with a thin layer of fresh wax to keep it safe. At Hadley Wood Honey, we use a warm, flat blade to carefully slice away these delicate seals. It is a slow, rhythmic process that requires a steady hand and a deep respect for the architecture the bees spent weeks building. By removing the caps with care, we keep the honeycomb intact so the frames can eventually be returned to the hives for the bees to refill. Every golden shaving of wax is saved and cleaned, ready to be transformed into our hand-poured balms and wax blocks.
Stage 2: The Gentle Spin
Once the frames are ready, they go into our spinner. We take it slow, using a gentle rhythmic turn so that centrifugal force can pull the golden honey from the cells without damaging the delicate wax walls. This hands-on process respects the bees' hard work and leaves the combs perfectly intact, ready for them to refill and use again.
Purely Filtered, Always Raw
After the honey is spun, we let it flow through a coarse sieve. This simple step carefully removes any bits of wax or hive debris while ensuring all the natural goodness stays put. Unlike mass-produced honey, ours is never heated or ultra-filtered, keeping it raw, unpasteurised, and packed with the local pollen our bees worked so hard to collect.
A Quiet Rest
After extraction, the honey rests in tanks for a few days. This gentle pause allows tiny air bubbles to rise naturally to the surface, leaving the golden honey underneath clear and perfectly smooth without the need for high-pressure processing.
The Gentle Path to the Jar
Hand-Poured Quality
We bottle our honey by hand in small batches. By avoiding heat and mechanical pumps, we preserve the delicate enzymes and natural wildflower aromas that make our honey unique. It is a slow process, but we believe pure taste is worth the wait.
Back to the Hard Workers
Once the honey is safely in jars, we take the empty combs back to the apiary. By returning these carefully cleaned frames, we save our bees the huge energy of building new wax from scratch, giving them a well-deserved head start for the seasons ahead. It’s our way of showing respect for their incredible hard work.