Hampshire's best-known local honey is New Forest heather. Ling on the Forest's open heath flowers from late July into September, and beekeepers from elsewhere in the county take their strongest hives there, by prior arrangement, for the late crop. It is a thick, jelly-like honey with a distinctive, slightly bitter flavour; The Noble Bee, which keeps over 100 hives across the Forest, moves colonies onto the heath for those few weeks of bloom. Away from the heath the forage is farmland, hedgerow, woodland and garden: Honey Bee Happy's main apiary near Alresford sits among hedgerows and woodland in the South Downs National Park, and Holmbury Honey at Steep takes two crops a year, in April–May and July–August.
The Hampshire Beekeepers' Association holds its annual Honey Show and Convention at Sparsholt College near Winchester, and New Forest & District Beekeepers run the Honey Tent at the New Forest Show, which has its own class for ling heather honey.
Most honey here is bought direct. Holmbury Honey has a stall in the lane at Steep, Hood Hampshire Honey sells from the door in Bassett and at Hampshire Farmers' Markets, and Honey Bee Happy is regularly at local farmers' markets.
On the chalk, colonies work clover, sainfoin and the wildflower mixes sown on downland margins, with oilseed rape providing a heavy early flow across the north of the county. The Test and Itchen valleys add willow and hawthorn early in the year and a long bramble season along the hedgerows. South of the M27 the picture changes: the New Forest's heaths carry bell heather from July and ling into September, and many Hampshire beekeepers move hives onto the Forest fringes for that crop. Winchester, Southampton and Basingstoke all have significant lime avenues, and urban apiaries in those towns often take a distinct mid-summer flow that rural ones miss entirely.
Pale and quick-setting from the spring rape and clover; the Forest crop is darker, aromatic and sometimes gelled from ling heather.
Flowering times are typical and can shift by two to three weeks with the weather, season and altitude.
Southampton, Winchester, Basingstoke, Portsmouth, Andover, Alresford, Havant, Fareham
Yes, but it is a short season and small volumes. Ling heather honey from the Forest heaths is usually jarred in September and often sells out before Christmas. If you want it, contact a producer in the south of the county in late summer rather than waiting until spring.
Oilseed rape is grown widely across north Hampshire and its honey granulates within weeks of extraction. Most local beekeepers deal with this by producing soft-set or creamed honey rather than fighting it. It is not a sign of adulteration — the opposite, in fact, since heavily processed honey stays runny for longer.
Use the listing details to choose how to buy, then contact the producer before travelling.
The directory does not track live stock or harvest dates. Availability, collection, delivery, prices and seasonal varieties can change, so ask the producer to confirm what is currently available.
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