What are my special features?
Sea Lavender Honey is a pale yellow-green colour when runny and granulates rapidly to a hard set with a smooth texture. The flavour is mild but distinct.
In order to produce Sea Lavender Honey, the hives are moved to the appropriate area at the start of the sea lavender flowering season (August). Bees actively seek the plant, flying up to 1km to work it. Sea Lavender Honey is a useful source of nectar when the flowering season of most other species is over. Good autumn weather promotes a large honey crop.
What is my history?
Sea Lavender is a plant of the Statice family. This and several closely related species are natives which grow on mudflats around the coast of England and parts of Southern Scotland. The species is particularly abundant in Norfolk.
Bees have been kept for centuries in Britain and Sea Lavender Honey has most probably been collected alone, or as a part of a mixed flower honey. The plant is thought to have been recognised in the 1930’s or before as a bee-plant which produced light, good-quality honey. The history of Sea Lavender Honey in East Anglia is strongly connected to man’s attempt to protect the land. A system of channels, dykes and sea walls used to control erosion and water levels has created a larger area of suitable habitat for sea lavender than would naturally occur.
Why am I forgotten?
Sea Lavender Honey is currently available in small quantities on the market and is mainly, but not entirely, produced in Norfolk. The honey is not widely known as producers are rare, the crop is small and almost all the product is consumed locally.
Don’t lose me… cook me!
