Pure Honey
How do our Bees make their Exceptionally Flavorful Honey?
At
Prairie Birthday Farm, our bee pasture, a permanent planting of
flowering annuals and perennials, nourishes the bees typically from
February through November. This optimizes natural bee nutrition to
support bee health and high bee numbers. These bee pasture plants,
predominantly Missouri natives and culinary herbs, are rich in nectar
and pollen, non-invasive, and long blooming. Based on nectar
availability, we harvest our honey in July and September, extracting it
from real wax foundation (not plastic) using a hand-cranked, stainless
steel extractor.
Know your Honey Supplier
Over 60 percent of U.S. honey is imported and some may be contaminated with lead-based paint, metal fragments, non-honey sweeteners, or illegal antibiotics. Unfortunately, the flood of adulterated and contaminated, imported honey shows no signs of slowing down (American Bee Journal, May 2008).
Though the U.S. does not have a honey standard, honey from the Farm meets the following German standard qualifications (American Bee Journal, March 2007):
- Origin: Produced from nectar or honeydew flows on or surrounding the Farm
- Ripeness: Extracted from predominantly capped frames occupied by bees
- Purity: Free from feeding (sugar/soy) or treatment (pesticides, antibiotics) residues and foreign objects
- Storage: Stored in a cool, dark place in airtight glass containers (light destroys the glucose oxidase in honey; its antibacterial property)
- Temperature: Not heated (temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius/104 degrees Fahrenheit destroys delicate enzymes)
- Extraction: Sieved through a fine mesh stainless steel screen to remove large crystals and foreign materials such as wax cappings) but retains the pollen
The Making of Exceptionally Flavorful Honey
Bee pasture is provided on the Farm as a permanent planting of flowering annuals and perennials designed to nourish the bees over many months. The goal is optimum natural bee nutrition to support bee health and high bee numbers. Bee pasture plants, predominantly Missouri natives, are rich in nectar and pollen, non-invasive, and long-blooming. Bloom time records kept for the Farm verify nectar sources on the property from February through November. Based on nectar availability, honey is harvested in July and September. It is extracted from real wax foundation (not plastic) using a hand cranked stainless steel extractor.
Prices and Storage
Honey from the Farm is available in glass jars:
- Gallon (approx. 12 pounds) --$60.00
- Quart (approx. 3 pounds) -- $15.00
- Pint (approx. 1.5 pounds) -- $7.50
Always store your honey in a cool, dark place in an airtight glass container.
To Learn More...
- Bishop, H. (2005). Robbing the Bees..
- Buchmann, S. (2005). Letters from the Hive
- Buchmann, S. & Nabhan G. (1996). The Forgotten Pollinators
- Horn, T. (2005). Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation
|
|
Want to Know More? Learn:
Thank you for your interest! Check back often to track our progress.
|
|