Anyway, the talks got underway, introduced by the charismatic founder of Abel and Cole, Keith, who started the evening mingling with a glass of wine in one hand and a bottle in the other, filling up glasses as he went, good man. He gave a basic welcome speech and introduced Steve Benbow, the founder of The London Honey Company, a pretty successful business with 850 hives dotted around the country. Steve recounted his own experience of starting out as a beekeeper, including a very funny story about why, in his second year, putting a hive on a barge on the River Thames was not a great idea. Tidal movements caused havoc with the bees' natural GPS systems, it seemed. Imagine arriving home and discovering that your home was 10 metres below where you left it! He discussed his hives that are now placed all around country, including those situated on the roof at Fortnum & Mason, not to mention the roof of the Tate Modern. Hive inspections must be amazing from up there.
One of the highlights of the evening was the honey tasting. Being a slight 'honey-phobe', this was most interesting because I haven't tasted very much honey, but here Steve had presented four different types on a plate for us to compare and savour.
I had never really considered honey much before I started all this and certainly hadn't thought about the amazing variety available. I suppose you just get used to seeing honey on the supermarket shelves or at the back of your kitchen cupboards. Before tonight I just thought honey was, well, honey. In front of me were oilseed rape honey, lavender honey, 'urban' honey and heather honey, and the difference in consistency, colour and smell was immediately apparent. Despite the fact they were all on a paper plate and I was about to taste them using a wooden lolly stick, I couldn't wait to jump in.
Having had a small taste of each of them in turn, in between explanations from Steve, the one that I was most amazed with was the oilseed rape honey. It was the colour and consistency of lard; most unusual and not entirely palatable, and not at all like the taste of honey that I remember so vividly from childhood. The urban honey was far more reminiscent of what I remember honey to be like. As a child I didn't really have a lot of honey but I will never forget the sweet smell as I opened the jar. This urban honey definitely had that distinctive smell I remember, but there was also its consistency. It was a runny honey and had a beautiful golden yellow colour that only added to its appeal when I went on to taste it. I was instantly reminded of the honey I had put on my toast as a child and with all my nostalgic memories flooding back; it couldn't fail to be the winner in my book. I may not have particularly liked honey when I was younger but the memories of putting a knife into a jar of runny honey and seeing it spill out onto the toast, and everything else around me, were good memories. That one taste of urban honey on a wooden lolly stick brought all of these fond memories back to me. I never expected honey to be quite so evocative, and this one moment made all the effort of going to London tonight well worth it.
Some were treating the event like a wine-tasting evening with discussions all around me along the lines of, 'Oh yes, I get the taste of lavender in there but George, do you get the subtle aroma of lemon as well?' I don't know if it was just because we were in London and whether it was all for show or if they really did detect these tastes but either way it was quite funny listening in.
Both the urban and lavender honey were surprisingly very runny, like water. By comparison, the heather honey was practically a granular sugary mass but had an incredible taste and texture to it, something I wouldn't have associated with honey previously. I have rarely experienced such an explosion of taste and it was divine.
Given all the different flavours and textures it left me wondering about my own honey. It is lovely to think I will have honey derived from my own garden. Given the variety of flowers I would think it would be more like an urban runny honey but I am not sure. Maybe another road trip is on the cards at some point to really see what my bees will be foraging on.
All in all, it was a very entertaining evening and all the more so for meeting up with a few friendly faces. One of them was Alison Benjamin, a columnist for The Guardian and co-author of A World Without Bees, which is a really great resource for anyone who wants to know about the problems bees are facing. I felt a little in awe when I bumped into her but she had seen my blogs and Facebook page (with my review of her book which no doubt helped) so it was a great discussion in the end with someone who is obviously all about helping the bees.
Suffice to say, well done Abel and Cole. I am going to bed now as it is far, far too late.
JUNE 13
I am a man of integrity and honesty and therefore I have to admit I am writing this piece with a glass of rosé to my right (yes, I know, not very 'beekeeping') and a leftover piece of cold pizza (with a bite taken out from a cheeky breakfast this morning) to my left. These are the leftovers from last night's World Cup match between England and the US, a rather disappointing result I have to say. Therefore I thought I would write this watching Australia beat Germany; sadly this is not proving to be the case, however, with Australia 4–0 down and with only ten men left on the pitch!