Edinburgh Honey Co - Hidden Edinburgh

Bees are extremely important to the world’s entire ecosystem, without them we’d be in serious trouble, so we’re grateful to people such as Marta and Andrew, founders of Edinburgh Honey Co, whose business helps our little buzzing buddies. Read on to discover more about Edinburgh Honey Co, the people and the legacy behind it, the products they sell and their passion for our pollinating pals.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself & life before Edinburgh Honey Co.

Both Marta and I (Andrew) had been working in the hospitality industry for many years before we started the Edinburgh Honey Co. Marta was a Restaurant Manager and I was a Head Chef when we met at the Guernsey Island. Now Marta is the Big Boss and I am the Head Beekeeper.

Your bee-keeping heritage dates back over 60 years, when your grandfather started beekeeping in Poland. Please tell us more about the story, why you continued the family tradition and how you came to be based in Edinburgh.

Grandpa Zalewski started his beekeeping adventure here in Scotland when he was recovering from wounds he suffered during Battle for Bologna. Hence Scotland was an obvious choice for us. Just before we moved over here and the passing of grandpa Zalewski he advised us, “The weather is shite in Scotland but the people are honest and they know how to drink so you will be fine.”

Your bees are not just here in the city, they can be found in North Berwick, The Falkland Estate and Gleneagles. How do you choose a location and how does the location impact the final product?

We choose the location by assessing the local food sources for the bees and finding the right sunny yet sheltered spot. Depending on local flora the honey can vary from apiary to apiary but usually carries similar flavour notes.

You still work with the family’s apiary in Poland – is there a big difference in taste?

Yes. Even though Poland and Scotland share fairly similar climates the difference is very noticeable and you can taste it right away.

For those not in the know, please tell us more about the differences between the raw, specialised honey you make compared to the ‘off-the shelf’ varieties.

From the legal point of view, we are not allowed to advertise our honey as raw, as all the honey sold in the UK needs to be raw otherwise it is not honey.

But as we all know the large supermarket chains are profit oriented and try to source their “honey” as cheap as possible hence the lower, even diluted quality of the mass produced honey. It lacks flavour due to high heating, micro filtration and artificial syrup additives.

It is a constant battle between honey testing labs and honey counter-fitters which use very sophisticated methods to hide sugars and antibiotics in their products.