Information about the honey I sell

This is what makes my honey special:

1. It is Made in the USA. Many people do not realize that most of the honey consumed in the US is imported, and you cannot assume the honey you buy from a local beekeeper is actually “local”. Many beekeepers move their hives around the country for pollination services. My hives are in the Ohio Valley and never leave.

2. Rich Biodiversity. There are hundreds of different species of wildflowers and trees in the Ohio Valley that contribute to the richness and unique qualities of the honey I harvest and sell. Commercial honey is often the result of bees pollinating specific crops (monoculture crops) which lack the complex flavor characteristic of honey produced from wilderness plants.

3. Sugar-Free. My bees are never fed sugar. Their diet is exclusively the natural pollen and nectar from plants and trees. The result is a healthier bee and a honey that has no traces of refined sugar.

4. High Pollen Count. Pollen is commonly filtered out of commercial honey to help prevent crystallization and it also conceals the place of origin. My honey is filtered once and contains the pollen and small particles of beeswax which contribute to the flavor, purity, local character, uniqueness, and healthy qualities.

5. Local Bees. My bees are all local strains, successfully wintered-over each year. They are better adapted to the local weather, climate conditions, and plant patterns than are bees bred at large breeding facilities and transported to pollinate crops. During the years that I expand, the bees I add to my colonies are from the general region (Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and Western New York) and carefully bred for their quality genetics. I have also been fortunate to collect swarms - nature’s method of ensuring healthy bees proliferate.

6. Handmade, Raw, and Never Heated. I do not use electricity or heat during the extraction process. My honey extractor is hand-cranked and there are no pumps, heaters, or uncapping machines. Applying heat to honey can result in a faster extraction process, slow crystallization and affect the chemical contents. Mine is never artificially heated and always extracted at room temperature. It takes longer, but I am in no hurry. The tendency of my honey to crystallize is another indication that it is not over-filtered and heat-processed.

7. Unfiltered. I use only a large stainless steel strainer to remove the wax cappings from the honey as it is extracted. Tiny particles of wax and all of the pollen flows through. It is all edible, natural, and healthy and contributes to the gout de terroir - the “taste of the place”.

8. Fair Trade. You enjoy knowing that your purchase directly supports bee colonies in your local area. You have the benefit of seeing the actual process of the honey you are consuming through updates and pictures on this website - pictures of the honey bees emerging in early spring to begin foraging, hive inspections throughout the year, and the honey that is extracted from the comb flowing from the extractor and into the strainer. Those are actual pictures of the honey in the glass jar you’ve purchased.

9. Pesticide-Free. The honey that we collect from the honey bees is tested for pesticides, heavy metals, and chemicals, with results demonstrating that it is free from them.