Thankyou for your interest in the Rousay Honey Apiaries.
From the Apiaries at Viera View we welcome you to learn a little more about our Honey Bees and Honey products.
Our aims
Our aim to support our small Apiary by selling a small quantity of Honey product that is not tainted or adulterated unlike the increasingly standard position of many large Honey producers that use imported and mixed blends of so called Honey. Suggested viewing of the series Rotten (Netflix) can explain more. By offering only a small production of Honey there is no need to import potentially adulterated products to add to our all natural honey. With no Honey targets to meet orders and satisfy large retailers Honey can be left with the Bees and the bee keeper can ensure only their surplus is harvested.
Our profits and reinvested into our Bees with modern equipment to improve their wellbeing and growth.
Our Honey
Our Honey represents a true taste of the Orkney Islands with all natural flora from nature around us, it is an experience to consume and offers different flavours of each season.
It is rough filtered to remove wax cappings and placed into settling tanks to remove the majority of air bubbles. Once settled honey is jarred into now cool sterilised jars. This natural process for jarring honey maintains all the goodness of the raw product which is widely regarded to help with mainly ailments when processed carefully.
Benefits of Honey
Here just 10 health benefits of natural honey, there are more:
- Rich in Antioxidants: Natural honey contains flavonoids and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants. These compounds help protect your body from damage caused by free radicals, which are linked to chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer.
- Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties: Honey has been used for centuries as a natural antiseptic. Its unique composition, including enzymes from the Bees, gives it potent antibacterial and antifungal qualities, making it effective against various pathogens. Honey is quotes as being eternally antibacterial with examples from ancient Egypt over 3,000 years old being still edible.
- Soothes Coughs and Sore Throats: Honey is a well-established remedy for respiratory discomfort. Its thick, viscous texture coats the throat, providing immediate relief from irritation and helping to suppress coughs, often proving as effective as over-the-counter cough medicines. A personal favourite in Honey to suppliment cold/flu remedies.
- Promotes Wound Healing: When applied topically, honey can accelerate the healing of wounds, burns, and ulcers. Its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties help prevent infection, reduce swelling, and encourage tissue regeneration.
- Aids Digestive Health: Honey can contribute to a healthy gut. It acts as a prebiotic, nourishing beneficial bacteria in the digestive system, and can help alleviate symptoms of indigestion and some gastrointestinal conditions.
- Boosts Energy: As a natural source of easily digestible carbohydrates (primarily glucose and fructose), honey provides a quick and sustained energy boost. This makes it an excellent natural alternative to refined sugars for athletes or those needing a rapid pick-me-up.
- May Improve Cholesterol Levels: Some research suggests that regular consumption of honey may positively impact cholesterol profiles by helping to reduce "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and increase "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
- Reduces Inflammation: The antioxidants and other bioactive compounds present in honey contribute to its anti-inflammatory effects. Reducing inflammation in the body is crucial for preventing and managing various chronic health conditions.
- Supports Sleep: A small amount of honey before bedtime can promote better sleep. It helps the brain release melatonin, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep-wake cycles, and provides a gentle rise in insulin that allows tryptophan to enter the brain more easily.
- Contains Beneficial Nutrients: While consumed in smaller quantities, natural honey contains trace amounts of various essential nutrients, including certain B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, and zinc, which contribute to overall well-being.
It's important to remember that while honey offers these benefits, and tastes incredibly more-ish, it is still a form of sugar and should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet. Additionally Honey can help in nuanced ways with diabetes and gastrointestinal distress, however greater levels of personal research are required to precisely identify how. Never give honey to under 12 month olds, while beneficial to adults, Clostridium can cause illness for under 12 month old children. Honey is safe for breastfeeding mothers.
Sufferers of hay-fever and respiratory issues related to inflammation may be eased by consuming local pollens and honey from the area you reside.
Our locations
Rousay Honey comes from a small selection of hives located on the island of Rousay situated in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
Orkney is not a naturally hospitable place to rear Bees but in that same breath it is the rarity of Bees within the Isles that create a natural haven for Bees.
- The competition for pollens and nectar is low, the Bees have the workers choice of sources.
- Farmers do not have enough natural pollinators, Honey Bees stimulate the local environment which in turn benefits other local produce and in turn produces more nectar and pollens for the Bees.
- With a normal Bee flying radius being 3 miles or so, a Bee cannot usually fly here into another radius of another hive, this had led to Orkney being free of many of the Bee diseases that cause harm and taint Honey stores. Orkney Bees are healthy and happy.
- Orkney celebrates its Varroa mite free status and is fiercely protective of its bee keepers importing Bees and equiptment to protect its local Bee population.
- The Orkney Bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera) is widely regarded as descendant of the original Scots Bee and is rare and worthy of protection. It is commonly known as the black bee, the dark bee, the native bee or simply Amm. It is under serious threat. A resilient subspecies of honey bee, known for its hardiness and ability to cope with wet and often harsh winters, poor springs and unsettled summer weather typical of the western Atlantic seaboard. Our Orkney Bee is hardened to our climate and is temperature tolerant to our winters, our Bees fly in lower temperatures and higher winds with the same stoicism of the Orkney people.
We use costly poly-hives to give our Bees a milder winter experience and improve their wellbeing, providing them with appropriate shelter from the winter winds and good Southerly exposures to benefit the early and late Sun's coverage. Bee's make heat by vibrating during the winter months to stay warm so providing them with proper insulated hives gives them the best chance of survival and conserves their energy and lifespan.
Help, my Honey crystalised!
When honey crystallizes, it’s still good to eat and sweet as ever! In fact, the crystals prove that your honey is high quality and hasn’t been processed. It means that the pollen hasn’t been filtered out and your honey hasn’t been damaged by pasteurization. Rousay Honey's raw & unfiltered honey is more likely to crystallize, because we do not heat our honey. Temperatures lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) can cause crystallization. During those cold winter months, the honey in your cabinet might begin to crystallize because of the lower temperatures. You might see white flecks not only out your window but in your honey, too. This crystallization even happens in the hive in colder temperatures. But for those of us who like to keep our honey slippery smooth, fill a bowl with warm water and let your bottle rest until the crystals dissipate. Be sure not to microwave your honey, because the heat will destroy the natural goodness of raw & unfiltered honey.
Glucose and fructose. These two best friends play a key role in crystallization. When bees hop from flower to flower, they’re collecting rich nectar. That nectar is made up of two sugars: glucose and fructose. After collection, the bees will drop off the nectar at their hive where it becomes honey. Different flower nectars have different ratios, and the crystals in your honey will reflect those different ratios. Honey from sunflowers and clovers crystallize quicker, while maple and eucalyptus honey changes slower. Who knew, right!?
The final factor is pollen. Pollen is simply a side effect of the bees’ honey making process. While bees collect nectar, they can rub their fuzzy little bodies on the flower’s pollen, and it can find its way into the honey. Pollen in your honey to test where it came from and prove it is unadulterated or processed and with pollen collection a deliberate part of Bees bringing up baby Bees (brood) it is like the addition of a Rusk biscuit to the food cupboard that is your Honey jar. With pollen in honey, the little particles provide a base for crystallization to begin.
Whether you like to spread your honey crystals over toast or let your honey slip into your Earl Grey, know that your crystallized honey is undergoing a natural process. When it comes to crystallization, let Mother Nature do her thing and know that your Rousay "raw and unfiltered" Honey embodies her wonders. Embrace the crystals!