Clover Honey (7kg/15.5lbs)

We’ve caught the bug – the beekeeping bug!  We’re delirious with amazement at all these little critters do, how they organize their societies and share responsibilities, and the niche role they can play on our farm.  We are transitioning away from hay production on some of our fields and using more clover for seed production and to support pollinators.  This year it’s all new (20 hives, about a million bees, dozens of bee-stings…countless hours of waggle-dance-watching…), and we weren’t expecting to have any excess honey beyond what the bees will need to feed their larvae and support their growing colonies.  But the end of summer was generous to us, and most hives produced an extra box of honey beyond what they need for themselves, so we have honey to share!

The nitty-gritty details:

Our beeyard is located next to a field of organic red clover, a short distance from a hayfield with late-summer organic alfalfa blossoms, and probably 10 miles or more away from the nearest non-organic flowering field-crop (no canola anywhere in sight!).  Our organic field inspectors have occasionally mentioned that our farm is one of the only farms they’ve seen that have isolated enough fields that honey could potentially be considered organic.  Bees will regularly forage 2-3 miles away, so being located on an organic field isn’t a guarantee that the bees aren’t feeding from a nearby crop that’s sprayed with chemicals.  That being said, organic designation for honey is something that i’m not prepared to jump into.  As i’m new to managing and assessing the health of my hives, and as beekeepers across North America are seeing hives decimated by varroa mites and other environmental pressures, I don’t have the skills and experience to lock myself into only using organic treatment options.  So far I haven’t had to use any non-organic treatments, but i’m not guaranteeing that I won’t in the future if it seems like that might be necessary to keep my hives healthy.

The honey is currently in liquid form – a beautiful light coloured honey that tastes bright and flows easily.  Honey made by bees that have been foraging on canola will harden quicker than other types of honey, but I don’t know how long this honey (with clover, alfalfa and wildflowers as the primary nectar source) will remain in liquid form.  Our honey is raw, and has not been heated or pasteurized.

If you’re doing on-farm pick-up, the BYOC (Bring Your Own Container) option is still available.  Pricing is $6 per pound for quantities between 1 and 4lbs, $5 per pound for quantities between 5 and 19 pounds, and $4.75 per pound for quantities of 20 pounds and more.  Just get in touch by email to arrange a time to stop by!

For all other orders (home delivery, pick-up at the Refill Market, etc.), we just have one size option available, and only a few left 🙂  The size that we have is a 7kg (15.5lbs) pail for $80.  This comes to $5/lb plus $2.50 for the cost of the pail.   Note – these are used pails that we purchased from a bakery and then washed thoroughly and dried carefully before filling.