Lake District Honey Shap Fell Heather Honey

Shap Fell hums with bees during the heather blooming season, the result is a highly prized heather honey with a distinctive amber hue and aromatic flavours.

Jim Lowther’s Lake District Heather Honey is well known for its strong ‘smokey’ flavour with a distinct bite. Gathered in August from the purple flowers of bell and ling heather on the moors of Shap.

‘Honeybees are the canary of land management: if they are thriving it means you must also be looking after the environment well.’

For many years, Jim Lowther has had a passion for bees – and in 2015, he began to farm them himself. Five years on, there are nearly 500 beehives across the estate and Jim Lowther’s Lake District Honey has become a very popular local product.

Bees are a great indicator of the wellbeing of the land they inhabit. More bees come and more honey is made when there are more flowers and trees to pollinate. Bees have three seasons of production: the spring harvest which consists of nectar mainly from arable crops and early trees species; the main summer harvest, nectar of plants such as clover and trees such as limes; and the late season harvest, nectar from heather once the bees have spent time on the fells.

Bees are now an integral part of the estate plan. With extensive planting of new trees and creation of new grasslands, the Lowther Honeybees can enjoy a more varied diet, thus increasing their yield.