Borage Honey — Scotland's Starflower Crop

What is borage honey and why is it mainly produced in Scotland?

Borage honey is honey produced primarily from the nectar of borage (Borago officinalis), commonly called starflower. The honey is pale golden to near-white in colour, mild and clean in flavour, with a subtle sweetness and almost no bitterness. It crystallises faster than most other varieties.

Borage is produced commercially in Scotland because Scottish growing conditions suit the crop. Borage is cultivated not as a culinary herb — though it is used in cooking — but as a seed oil crop. Borage seed oil contains high levels of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid used in health supplement production. Scotland's longer summer daylight hours and relatively cool, wet summers produce consistent borage seed yields in the east coast arable belt.

The main commercial borage-growing regions are in Angus, Fife, Perthshire, and Aberdeenshire — the same agricultural strip that produces oilseed rape, barley, and wheat. Borage fields in these areas can cover hundreds of hectares and flower for 6–8 weeks in summer, typically from late June through August.

For beekeepers, borage is a significant opportunity. The plant produces nectar prolifically and the flower structure makes it highly accessible to honeybees. Fields of flowering borage in Scotland attract large numbers of bees from hives placed nearby, and the honey flows can be intense. Some commercial Scottish beekeepers specifically plan their seasonal operations around the borage flowering window.

Outside Scotland, borage is grown commercially in southern England and on a smaller scale elsewhere in the UK, but Scotland produces the largest concentrations of the crop. As a result, most British borage honey production is associated with Scottish beekeepers, though English borage honey does exist.

Why is borage such a generous nectar source for bees?

Borage is exceptionally nectar-rich for several reasons related to the plant's flower structure and nectar secretion physiology.

Each borage flower has a central nectar chamber surrounded by five petals arranged in a star shape — hence the common name starflower. The blue flowers are drooping and accessible. Bees can land on the reflex petals and access nectar from a relatively exposed position, unlike more complex flower structures that restrict access to specific pollinator types.

The nectar replenishment rate in borage is rapid. Studies of borage nectar production have found that the flowers replace collected nectar within hours of removal, allowing bees to make multiple productive visits to the same plant in a single day. This continuous production over a long flowering period is what makes borage such a high-yield source.

Sugar concentration in borage nectar is typically 30–40%, which is higher than many wildflower nectars. Higher sugar concentration means bees need to collect less raw nectar to produce a kilogram of honey — reducing the amount of water that must be evaporated during processing. This efficiency translates into faster comb-filling during a borage flow.

The scale of commercial borage cultivation amplifies these plant-level effects. A colony placed near a 100-hectare borage field has access to millions of individual flowers within foraging range, all producing nectar simultaneously over weeks. This is the agricultural equivalent of a monofloral nectar flood, and colonies respond by growing fast and filling supers rapidly.

Comparative honey yield figures for borage versus other crops are striking. Beekeepers report average yields of 30–40 kg per hive near borage fields in good seasons — significantly higher than typical British wildflower yields of 15–25 kg per hive.

What does borage honey taste like?

Borage honey has a light, clean flavour with mild sweetness and no pronounced floral or bitter notes. It is one of the most neutral-tasting single-variety British honeys.

The base taste is a straightforward floral sweetness with a slightly watery, thin mouthfeel compared to richer honeys like heather or buckwheat. There is no astringency, no bitterness, no resinous or herbal undertone. Tasters often describe it as clean and delicate — honeyed without being cloying or strongly flavoured.

This mild character is partly due to the low aromatic compound concentration in borage nectar. The terpenes and phenolics that create intensity in heather, thyme, and other herbal honeys are not present in significant quantities in borage. What you get is largely the base sugars of honey with a light floral accent.

The quick crystallisation changes the eating experience. Set borage honey has a fine, creamy texture — finer crystals than rapeseed honey, which crystallises harder and coarser. Creamy set borage honey spreads easily and has a pleasant mouthfeel that many people prefer to runny honey on bread or toast.

Because of its mild flavour, borage honey is considered a good cooking honey. It adds sweetness without competing with other flavours in a dish. It dissolves easily in warm liquids, making it useful for sweetening teas or dressings.

It also blends well with other honeys. Some British honey producers blend borage honey with stronger-flavoured varieties — adding body and sweetness without overriding the primary flavour. Commercially, mild honeys like borage and clover are often used as the base for blended products.

For buyers who find heather or buckwheat honey too intense, borage honey is a useful gateway into single-variety British honey.

Why does borage honey crystallise faster than most other varieties?

Borage honey crystallises quickly because of its sugar composition — specifically, the ratio of glucose to fructose.

All honey contains a mixture of glucose and fructose as its main sugars. Glucose crystallises more readily than fructose. Honeys with a high glucose-to-fructose ratio crystallise quickly; honeys with more fructose stay liquid longer. Borage honey has a relatively high glucose proportion, which drives fast crystallisation.

Temperature also matters. Crystallisation is fastest at 14–18°C — roughly the temperature of an unheated British kitchen or pantry in autumn and winter. Honey stored at warmer temperatures (above 25°C) crystallises more slowly; honey stored in the fridge (4°C) crystallises more slowly too, because cold reduces the mobility of glucose molecules.

Once crystallisation begins, it progresses quickly in borage honey. The crystals formed are small and fine, producing a smooth, creamy texture rather than the coarse, gritty crystals of some other fast-crystallising honeys like rapeseed. This texture is considered desirable — creamy set honey is easy to spread and has a pleasant mouthfeel.

Beekeepers and processors who want to sell borage honey in liquid form must work quickly after extraction or maintain the honey at controlled warm temperatures to delay crystallisation. Many simply sell it as set honey, which is the natural state it reaches within weeks of harvest.

The crystallisation of borage honey is not a sign of poor quality. It is a natural result of the sugar chemistry of the nectar. Crystallised honey can be gently warmed to return it to liquid form, though temperatures above 40°C are damaging. The simplest approach is to buy it set, store it at room temperature, and use it as a spreadable product.

Where in Scotland is borage grown commercially, and for what purpose?

Commercial borage in Scotland is grown primarily for seed oil production. The oil extracted from borage seeds contains 18–26% gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), making it one of the richest plant sources of this omega-6 fatty acid. GLA is used in health supplement capsules marketed for skin health, inflammation, and hormonal balance.

The principal growing areas are the eastern Scottish arable belt: Angus, Fife, Perthshire, and Aberdeenshire. This region has the right combination of factors for borage cultivation: relatively low rainfall during seed ripening (critical for harvest quality), long summer days that promote plant growth, and good arable infrastructure including the machinery and grain storage needed for a seed crop.

Angus in particular has established itself as a significant borage production county. The Angus landscape — gently rolling arable farmland between the coast and the Grampian foothills — suits the crop agronomically, and several farms have grown borage regularly for contracted seed oil buyers over many years.

Fife and Perthshire also have commercial borage acreage, though the total varies year to year depending on contract prices. Borage is grown on rotation with cereals and oilseed rape, and its area in any given year depends on commodity prices for seed oil versus alternative break crops.

The beekeeping opportunity exists because of the scale of these commercial crops. A single 50-hectare borage field can support 30–50 hives. Beekeepers negotiate with farmers to place hives at field margins in exchange for pollination benefits — borage seed set improves with bee activity — and the beekeeper keeps the honey.

This commercial relationship between borage farmers and beekeepers is well established in Angus and Fife, and some beekeepers structure their whole season around the borage window in late June and July.