The Field GuidesIndex
Know what you’re buying.
Composition and process, no mythology: what each product is, how it is made, how to choose a good one in the UK, and how to store it. We publish these before we sell anything, so you can hold us to them.
Start here
What the words on a honey label are allowed to mean, and which ones are policed.
What Is Raw Honey? Definition, Testing & UK RulesWhat raw honey means when UK law does not define it: heating, filtration, and the HMF and diastase figures that make a raw claim checkable per batch.Best Honey UK: How to Judge a Jar Before You BuyWhat separates a good jar from a bad one in the UK: origin wording, the HMF and diastase limits, batch certificates, and public registers.Raw Honey vs Pasteurised: What Heating ChangesHoney is pasteurised to dissolve seed crystals and stop yeasts, not for safety. What heating measurably changes, what it does not, and how UK labels read.How to Tell If Honey Is Real: What Works & What Doesn'tWhy the thumb, water and flame tests cannot show whether honey is real, what the EU's 46% border-screening figure means, and the checks that do work.
Choosing a jar
The differences that show up on a shelf — set or runny, comb or jar, one honey against another.
Set vs Runny Honey: What the Difference Really IsSet honey is crystallised honey; runny honey is liquid honey — one food, two states. Why setting speed varies by flower, and which jar suits which job.Crystallised Honey: Why It Happens & What to DoWhy honey crystallises, what setting speed says about floral source, storage and processing, and how to return a set jar to liquid without overheating it.Comb Honey: What It Is and How to Eat ItComb honey is honey still sealed in beeswax. What the comb is made of, whether you eat the wax, how to cut and serve it, and how to store it.Raw Honey vs Manuka: What Each Word Actually MeansRaw describes how honey was handled; manuka names a floral source. What the MGO and UMF numbers measure, New Zealand's export definition, and the price.Why Is Manuka Honey So Expensive?Scarcity and certification: the short manuka bloom, New Zealand's five-attribute export test, the UMF licence, and what the grade numbers count.Honey vs Sugar: What Actually DiffersUK guidance counts the sugars in honey as free sugars, like table sugar. What the composition data, the per-spoon arithmetic and the kitchen actually show.
Greek honey
The honeys this house is built on, and where they come from.
Thyme Honey: What It Is, Where It Comes FromWhat thyme honey is: the wild thyme behind it, where it is produced, how it tastes and crystallises, and how to read its label in the UK.Greek Honey: Varietals, Regions & How to Buy It in the UKThe main Greek honey varietals, the two protected names on the UK register, Cretan honey, and how to read the label when buying Greek honey in the UK.How Do Bees Make Honey? Nectar to Sealed CombHow a colony turns nectar into honey: the honey stomach, the enzymes added on the way home, fanning the water off, and the wax capping on a finished cell.Does Honey Go Off? Shelf Life, Storage and SignsWhy honey keeps for years, what its best before date means in UK law, what changes with age, and the two conditions under which honey genuinely spoils.Is Honey Vegan? The Argument, Set Out FairlyBy the Vegan Society's own definition, honey is not vegan. The definition in full, the beekeeping practices the objection points at, and the replies made.
The rest of the hive
Propolis, bee pollen and royal jelly — forms, labels and how to store each one.
Propolis Tincture UK: How to Choose, Store and UseWhat a propolis tincture is, how ethanol extraction and ratios work, and how to choose, store and use one in the UK — with a format comparison.Propolis Spray UK: A Buyer's Guide to Formats & LabelsWhat a propolis spray is, how it differs from a tincture, and how to read UK labels — propolis content, alcohol, added honey — before you buy.Bee Pollen UK: A Buyer's Guide to Granules & CapsulesBee pollen UK buyer's guide: granules vs capsules vs tablets, fresh vs dried, organic certification, storage and a factual allergy warning.Buying Royal Jelly in the UK: Fresh, Capsules & In-HoneyHow to buy royal jelly in the UK: fresh vs freeze-dried capsules vs in-honey blends, 10-HDA disclosure, cold chain, storage, and a factual allergy note.Bee Pollen vs Royal Jelly: What Each Actually IsBee pollen is plant material foragers gather; royal jelly is a gland secretion of nurse bees. Origin, hive role, UK forms, cost and storage.
The grove — olive oil
The oil side keeps its own shelf of 12 guides, from the legal grades to what a phenolic figure in mg/kg actually means.
Best Olive Oil UK: How to Judge a Bottle Before You BuyThe best olive oil in the UK is the bottle that makes the most checkable statements: extra virgin grade, a harvest date, dark glass, published numbers.Can You Cook With Extra Virgin Olive Oil? The MeasurementsYes — you can cook with extra virgin olive oil. Measured smoke points sit above home cooking temperatures, and in ten-oil trials it broke down least.Cold Pressed Olive Oil: A Legal Term Most Labels MisuseWhat cold pressed olive oil means: GB law reserves 'first cold pressing' and 'cold extraction', both below 27°C — and almost no modern mill presses at all.Does Olive Oil Go Off? Shelf Life, Storage and SignsYes, olive oil goes off: the oxidation clock, the enemies of a fresh bottle, what best before dates say, and why winter clouding is not spoilage.Early Harvest Olive Oil: What Agourelaio MeansEarly harvest olive oil (agourelaio) is pressed from under-ripe olives: less oil per tree, more phenols and green aroma — the arithmetic behind the price.Greek Olive Oil: Varieties, Regions and Protected NamesWhat sets Greek olive oil apart for a UK buyer: the Koroneiki olive, the regions from the Peloponnese to Crete, and the 32 names the GB register protects.High Polyphenol Olive Oil UK: What Counts, How to CheckWhat high polyphenol olive oil means in mg/kg: oleocanthal and oleacein, the 500 mg/kg line, what drives the number, and the certificate to ask for.How to Read an Olive Oil Label: Spotting Real Olive OilHow to tell real olive oil from fake: what every label phrase legally means — grade wording, origin, harvest year, acidity, PDO marks — and the red flags.Is Olive Oil a Seed Oil? Fruit Oil vs Seed OilIs olive oil a seed oil? No — it is pressed from the flesh of a fruit; seed oils are extracted from seeds, usually with heat, solvents and refining.Kalamata Olive Oil: The Olive, the City and the PDOKalamata olives and Kalamata olive oil share a city, not a tree: two protected names on the GB register — and the oil is pressed from a different olive.Koroneiki Olive Oil: The Variety Behind Most Greek OilThe small-fruited variety behind most Greek olive oil: where Koroneiki grows, why millers rate it, and why the name on the bottle guarantees nothing.Organic Olive Oil: What the Certificate Actually CoversWhat organic olive oil certification covers for the grove and the mill, how to read the control-body code on a GB label, and why organic is not a grade.
The reading continues beyond the guides: recipes, Greek food — including the ancient-history set — and the journal. The Harvest Letter carries the season's additions.
The Harvest Letter
Two letters a year. Nothing between.
One at the summer extraction, one at the autumn pressing: first call on the first jars and first bottles we fill, and the harvest report in real numbers.
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