Local Honey Wareham

Honey from Field Honey Farms, a commercial bee farm on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset run by second-generation bee farmer Robert Field, with hives at farms and estates between Swanage and Salisbury Plain.

The business began in the Thames Valley in the late 1970s. Robert joined his father after leaving school in 1983, started moving hives to the heaths around Poole Harbour for heather honey, and relocated the business to Purbeck in 1993. He is a former chairman of the Bee Farmers' Association. The honey is extracted and bottled at the farm's own purpose-built facility on the edge of the Purbeck heathland.

The range includes clear and set Dorset honey; clear and set Salisbury Plain honey, a summer blend from wild flowers such as white clover, sainfoin and yellow melilot on the chalk grassland; heather honey; and cut comb. The bees work the Dorset heaths from late June to early September, and the ling heather honey gathered in August has the thick, jelly-like texture typical of heather honey. For bottling, honey is warmed gently under thermostatic control to protect its quality.

Honey can be ordered by phone or email for delivery. Groups of up to 40 can arrange tailor-made educational visits to the Purbeck facility, covering honey processing, bee diseases and wax rendering, finishing with honey tasting over tea and crumpets.