The Honey Standard by Robert Honey

Introduction

This week Robert Honey explains a new resource to enhance honey authentication. But first of all in my home apiary, we are close to the end of October. After a week or so of ferocious gales and cold rain showers, a lovely day surprised the bees (and me) and they were out in full force collecting ivy pollen. I watched one colony explode with activity at the height of the sunshine today and the bee lines went off in all directions with some bees spiraling high into the air before heading off over the hedge, while others just shot out at low angles over the back lawn. The hum of noisy bee traffic was reminiscent of summer but nobody is fooled. All the colonies have stopped themoregulating their brood nests and are preparing for winter; days such as this will be rare for a while. I noticed a butterfly circle the air above my head with a honey bee in hot pursuit and wondered if they had been competing for food on the leatherwood tree.

One of the many pleasurable rewards of writing a blog is networking and corresponding with enthusiastic and enterprising beekeepers without having to travel. A couple of weeks ago, Robert Honey wrote to tell me about his work creating a national resource called The Honey Standard. Robert is a thoughtful beekeeper and responding to current concerns about the quality of honey in the UK, winning consumer confidence and supporting the honest beekeepers who produce it. We had a Zoom chat as I was keen to learn more.

My interest was piqued by the concept of promoting British honey. Readers, old enough to remember the days when goods were manufactured on a large scale in the UK, will recall how ‘Made in Britain’ was a guarantee of good quality. Today I seek out clothes made in the UK on the basis of quality and keeping the jobs at home. I am confident that we can recreate this concept with honey. I am also keen on the educational angle that Robert’s resource will naturally bring to beekeeping. Most beekeepers know how to prepare honey for sale but inevitably there are pockets of ignorance all over such as the beekeeper near me who painted his hives with creosote because that was what was done when he first got into beekeeping a long time ago!

Robert is the founder of The Honey Standard, an independent certification initiative dedicated to protecting the authenticity of British honey, supporting responsible beekeepers and restoring consumer confidence. Alongside establishing The Honey Standard, Robert works in the aerospace industry, where his background in engineering, quality assurance and business transformation has shaped his approach to developing a rigorous, transparent and accessible certification scheme. With a passion for British produce, rural heritage and supporting independent producers, Robert is working to bring together beekeepers, scientific researchers and industry organisations to create a trusted standard that recognises genuine British honey and those who produce it.
I welcome

What is the Honey Standard?

The Honey Standard is a new, independent certification scheme being established to protect the authenticity, quality and traceability of British honey, while recognising and supporting the beekeepers who produce it. The initiative was born from a concern about the widespread adulteration and misrepresentation of honey, which undermines consumer confidence and places honest British beekeepers and bee farmers at a disadvantage.

Our ambition is to create a recognisable, trusted certification mark that gives consumers confidence in the honey they buy, while providing producers with a credible way to demonstrate their commitment to good beekeeping and production practices.

How will it work?

We’re developing a comprehensive certification framework based on UK honey legislation, the Codex Standard for Honey, established industry guidance and internationally recognised conformity assessment principles, particularly ISO/IEC 17065 (international standard that specifies the requirements for third-party bodies certifying products, processes, and services).

The scheme will cover both honey producers and packers, recognising that authenticity and traceability must be maintained throughout the supply chain, not simply at the hive.

Our approach combines several elements:

• Producer verification: Assessing beekeeping practices, honey production, handling and record-keeping against a defined standard.

• Traceability: Maintaining a documented chain of custody from the apiary through to the final packaged product.

• Independent assurance: Using evidence-based assessments, proportionate inspections and, where appropriate, laboratory testing to support certification decisions.

• Consumer transparency: Providing a publicly searchable register of certified producers and a means of verifying certification.

We’re particularly conscious that certification should be accessible to small/medium scale beekeepers as well as larger commercial operations. We’re therefore developing a digital-first approach to reduce administration and keep the process practical and proportionate.

Supporting beekeepers and the wider environment

Although honey authenticity is our central focus, we also recognise the wider contribution beekeepers make to pollinator awareness, education and environmental stewardship. We want The Honey Standard to encourage responsible beekeeping and greater public understanding of the importance of healthy pollinator populations and the habitats that support them. This includes raising awareness of the importance of diverse, pesticide-conscious, flower-rich habitats, and supporting wider efforts to protect both managed honey bees and wild pollinators.

We see a natural connection between protecting the integrity of British honey supporting responsible producers and encouraging a healthier environment for pollinators.

Where are we now?

We’ve made substantial progress developing the Standard, its supporting technical requirements, governance framework and online certification platform. We’re also engaging with beekeepers, scientific researchers, industry organisations and relevant government bodies to ensure the scheme is informed by practical experience and the latest developments in honey authenticity testing. Our target is to launch in spring 2027, with an initial two-year period of free membership to encourage participation and help establish the scheme.

Importantly, The Honey Standard is being developed as an independent organisation, with impartial certification decisions and appropriate governance arrangements central to its design.

Our longer-term ambition

Ultimately, we’d like The Honey Standard to become a widely recognised symbol of trust in British honey, helping consumers make informed choices and ensuring that producers who take pride in producing genuine honey receive the recognition they deserve. We also hope it will provide a practical route for new scientific developments in honey authenticity testing to be adopted across the industry, strengthening the evidence available to support assurance. You can find further information on our website: https://www.thehoneystandard.co.uk