Tag: Bickington

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Local Devon Honey Spring 2020

Bickington & Fremington Devon Honey For Sale

We have jarred up this year’s first batch of honey (Spring 2020), which is now for sale. Collected and produced by our bees. This spring honey is still runny and floral. Although it will probably crystallise over time (as all naturally produced honey does), when it goes solid, we provide instructions on how to make it liquid again.

Local Honey made by bees in Barnstaple, Bickington, and Fremington. Bees on our smallholding at Chilcotts Farm
Local Honey made by bees at Chilcotts Farm - Extracted using traditional methods
Chilcotts Farm Honeycomb - made by bees in Barnstaple Devon
North Devon Local Honey from the surrounding area of Barnstaple, Bickington & Fremington

Local Bickington & Fremington Honey

£6.00

Due to the loss of our bees we will not be selling honey for the foreseeable future.

Produced by our bees in Bickington and harvested using craft skills and traditional methods.  Our Honey is unadulterated, filtered and not heat treated, and therefore retains all its natural properties.

CLICK & COLLECT only.  Buy online and schedule a time to pick-up.

Card payments only online.  chilcotts farm takes mastercard visa maestro  Find us here …….

Out of stock

Description

Flavour

Our bees are located in our fields between Bickington and Fremington, just on the outside of Barnstaple, North Devon. They forage for nectar in the hedges lining the fields, local trees as well as local gardens. In our opinion, the honey shows the characteristics of a traditional English honey, smooth but floral with hints of fudge and citrus.

Granulated Honey

All natural and unprocessed honey will crystallise over time.  Depending on which flowers the bees have been visiting will depend on how quickly the honey granulates or goes solid.  Processed liquid honey bought in the super market, is treated to stop granulation.  This is often done through heating the honey.  This process destroys the natural properties of the honey removing the benefits and altering the taste. At Chilcotts Farm our honey is Pure and Untreated.  All we do is filter our honey after it has been extracted. The fact that honey crystallises and granulates, is the best evidence that you have a quality pure product.  However, if you prefer liquid honey you can restore it to a liquid state by gently heating the honey.  To do this:
  1. Loosen the lid of the jar, and stand the honey jar in a bowl of hot water.
  2. Gently stir the honey until the honey becomes liquid again.

Find out More About Our Honey

If you want to know more about our Honey click here.

Newsletter

Want to know when we have honey?

Subscribe to our email list and we will let you know when we have honey available.

Honey maybe available late spring or September depending on the season. We will let you know.

Additional information

Availability

Normally available in August or September
Allergy Advice

May help pollen allergies
Origin

Produced in Devon, United Kingdom
Ingredients

Pure Filtered Unadluterated Honey

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Jarring up natural local honey

Sticky Morning

This morning has been spent jarring up some of this year’s spring honey. The hives have done really well, building up the colony, but also out and about collecting and abundance of nectar.

Now onto labelling and getting out for sale.

Roll on the summer honey flow!

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Wild brood comb in a bee hive

Wild comb

Last year I housed a honey bee swarm I collected from the local area. On returning, I put the swarm into a new hive with about half the intended frames I had to hand. I needed to assemble more and intended to put the remaining frames in the following day.

However, I didn’t get the chance to return to the hive for a couple of days. At this point the colony had drawn wild comb which was hanging from the crown board (the lid on the top of the hive).

In a dilemma, I decided to leave the hive until the following season and sort it out then.

Yesterday, was the day. In the main picture you can see 5 pieces of wild comb. Each of these were packed with brood (growing baby bees).

I took three pieces of the wild comb and attached each piece into a frame using elastic bands (not sure how this will work). I then transferred these to a new hive with new frames. The new hive was put back in the same place as the original hive.

  • Wild comb resting on the top of the hive
    Wild comb resting on the top of the hive
  • Hive before the tidy up and removal of wild comb
    Hive before the tidy up and removal of wild comb
  • Wild comb attached into a frame with elastic bands
    Wild comb attached into a frame with elastic bands

I couldn’t find the queen, but hopefully she was somewhere amongst the existing frames or was brushed off into the new hive as I removed each piece of wild comb.

Now all tidy and manageable, the hive can be easily inspected. Next week, I will go in and see if I can find the queen or evidence that she is still laying.

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Lauder & Smith brick circa 1876

Barnstaple History

We have done a lot of work to the house and the out buildings. Moving a lot of stone, roof tiles and bricks we have discovered all sorts of things, including little pockets of history.

Most of the bricks and roof tiles which were stacked up appeared to have been from outbuildings that had fallen into ruin. Most of the bricks and tiles were unmarked or branded. Interestingly we have found a batch of roof tiles & the odd brick stamped with Lauder & Smith Brick & Tile Works, Barnstaple.

Lauder & Smith Roof Tile circa 1876
Lauder & Smith Roof Tile circa 1876

It turns out this tile works was about 3 miles away from Chilcotts Farm in an area of Barnstaple called Pottington. The pottery was in business for 38 years from 1876 to 1914.

I am guessing the start of the First World War in 1914, was the reason for the demise of the company.

We haven’t researched the age of the property, but we thought it was mid 1800s. The farm house, isn’t built of bricks, but rather a rubble construction with render. I am guessing the Lauder & Smith bricks and tiles were brought in at a later date and used for an outbuilding.

Lauder & Smith brick circa 1876
Lauder & Smith brick circa 1876
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Happbee Easter - Bee themed Easter egg

Happbee Easter!

Happbee Easter!!!!! The bees are doing fab lately.

The fine weather has meant they can get out and gather nectar and pollen. The colonies have built up really well and already very large and storing lots of honey.

Fingers crossed, it is going to be a good year for the bees!

We currently have some of last season’s honey for sale, but currently with lock down, can not sell it 🙁

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Breakfast - Good Friday - homemade jam

Good Friday Breakfast

Even though we are in lockdown, it could be worse! The weather is fantastic! The sun and warmth maybe shining in through the windows, or you have the opportunity to sit outside ….. it could be worse ….. it could be raining!

This morning we sat outside and had a lovely breakfast with homemade jam made with homegrown fruit!

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Beautiful Mornings!

The mornings over the past few days have been crisp, bright and warm!

Letting the animals out is even more of a joy when the weather is so gorgeous. You forget what is going on in the world.

After all, they don’t have a clue and every new day is another adventure.

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Honey Bee on crocus gathering pollen in early spring

Bees are Springing into Action

We have had so much rain in the UK, but North Devon, although wet, seems to have got off lighter than some parts of the country!

In the dryer, warmer spells, the bees have managed to get out and collect pollen. They are returning to the hive with their pollen baskets loaded up with mainly orange and yellow pollen at the moment.

If anyone is interested, I have written a small guide on the colour of pollen and the flowers the bees have been visiting in North Devon. See: https://chilcotts.farm/bees/local-pollen-guide/

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First goose Egg of the year

First Goose Egg of 2020

Last year (2019) we had our first goose egg of the season on 25th February 2019, this year it was today, 26th February!

It’s amazing how nature’s clock is so accurate. It won’t be long before we have a goose eggs for sale (sorry, still local collection only).

I know what I am having for breakfast this weekend! Goose egg and soldiers….. delicious.

Soft boiled goose egg
Soft boiled goose egg. A meal in itself.
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Beehive blown over by #StormCiara

Unhappy Bees!

Well wouldn’t you bee unhappy too if your house has been blown over, and you are exposed to all the elements?

I can see the hives from the house and am always keeping an eye on the them checking all is well.

Everyone had been warning us about #StormCiara, but for some reason I didn’t think about the hives. This morning when I got up, the hives were fine, but the wind was gusting. The BBC website said gusts up to 70 miles per hour.

Mid morning, one of the hives blew over! Spotted as it happened, I shot out to pick the hive up to protect the poor bees from the wind and rain. As I upped the hive and went to get some blocks and straps to to put on the roof and hold it down, it blew over again!

Angry, unhappy bees is an understatement! Poor things. Anyway, I managed to up the hive again (Four stings later – four little bees obviously managed to get into my bee jacket) I weighed it down with bricks and strapped it together. I then strapped all the other hives down too.

Fingers crossed the queen has not been damaged, and all the girls will support her as she starts to lay in the coming weeks.

Strapped down beehive ready for the winds
Strapped down beehive ready for the winds

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