Wildflower Honey
How do our Bees make their Exquisitely 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 small, stainless steel extractor.
It is important for you to know your bee steward/honey supplier. Over 60% 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).
Honey from the Farm is sold in glass jars. Always store your honey in a cool, dark place in an airtight glass container. To avoid contaminating the container with food or dirt, use only clean utensils to measure out honey.
Relevant resources:
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Berfield, S. (2013). Honey Laundering
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Bishop, H. (2005). Robbing the Bees
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Buchmann, S. (2005). Letters from the Hive
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Buchmann, S. & Nabhan G. (1996). The Forgotten PollinatorsHorn, T. (2005). Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation
Please contact us to learn more:
Prairie Birthday Farm
Clay County, Missouri