"Yorkshire Honey is gathered from approximately 300 hives in fields and moors across the Yorkshire Countryside before being taken to our honey house in Scampston for extraction''.

The business was started over forty years ago by my father Francis Cordingley who discovered neglected beehives on his cousin's farm in Shropshire after the Second World War. After working on a bee farm in British Columbia and also managing one in Ontario he returned to England in the early 50s to establish "South Shropshire Apiaries" - which also was a carpentry business making chicken huts and beehives. Unfortunately success was elusive on the beekeeping side as the imported bees from France were ill adapted to the damp conditions of western Britain. Later in Northumberland and in Yorkshire our efforts were rewarded thanks to the drier conditions and native bee population. In fact we were so impressed by our bees that we began exporting them to the rest of the United Kingdom. It was Francis Cordingley who designed the label which shows three lime trees. Lime trees are in fact very popular with bees.

The charming village of Scampston has been our base since 1990 although we have kept bees here since 1974. The apiaries are sited in the Vale of Pickering on the Wolds and in the Howardian Hills and are moved to the North Yorkshire Moors for the Ling Heather. We also supply bees for the pollination of borage (starflower) in East Yorkshire."

Extracting the Honey
After gathering honey from flowers and storing it in the hive's wax comb (which they make) the bees 'cap' the honey. This capping is a wax seal which is applied when the moisture in the cells has evaporated.
We uncap the honeycomb using a hot knife and remove the honey by centrifugal force with the aid of an extractor. The honey is then filtered and stored before being bottled into jars.
The comb is returned to the hive for the bees to use again.

Transferring the honey to jars
Moving the honey from the storage vessel into jars involves heating the produce to 40 degrees centigrade (slightly more than body heat) which is the ideal temperature to work with the honey.

The different honeys we supply
Borage: Light, sweet and clear.
Spring Blossom: Multi floral honey (containing Oilseed Rape and possibly Sycamore, Dandelion, Chestnut which gives a darker appearance to an otherwise light honey). This honey is allowed to set in its storage container. When needed it is partially liquefied and bottled using the creaming method. Clear honey is produced by fully liquefying and bottling.
Blossom Heather Honey: Two-thirds spring blossom mixed with one-third Heather - a less strong alternative to Heather.
Moorland: A mix of floral sources found on the moors which reflect the immense floral diversity of the North Yorkshire Moors. Mainly Bell Heather and is available according to season.
Heather Honey: True Heather honey comes from the bees working Ling (Calluna Vulgaris) the common plant of the moorland. They also visit other moorland plants such as Clover, Vetch, Ericas, Knapweed and Hogweed. However, Ling Honey, unlike all the others, is thixotropic - a characteristic which means it can be separated in the process of extraction. Therefore we can ensure the purity of our Heather honey. Gelatinous textured aromati and slightly bitter.

Other honeys are available according to season.