Local Honey
Our beehives are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We have many bee out-yards around the three states. Our two main farms are in Smithfield, RI, and East Freetown, MA. Local is as local does and the bees are no exception as they fly over the borders of the states, cities and towns! One may ponder, “Is Goldenrod in Cumberland, RI any different than Goldenrod in neighboring Attleboro, MA?” Labeling regulations require us to publish where the operation is located, not where the bees gather the nectar. Our labels will say, East Freetown, MA or Smithfield, RI, but the honey comes from hives all around the region. We may not be able to give you a city or town specific local label, but we think you’ll find that our product is excellent, it is local to our region, and it certainly is natural!
Raw, Natural and Organic Honey
What allows us to call our honey Natural? Comb honey is sold in the honeycomb which the bees have made and sealed. We just cut it into squares to fit the packaging. More commonly honey is extracted from the comb and sold in liquid form. Liquid honey is typically sold under three different classifications: raw, natural and organic.
Honey is separated from the honeycomb using a centrifuge called the extractor. The honey flies out of the honeycomb and is collected at the spout of the extractor. The empty honeycomb is returned to the bees to be filled again. The honey has beeswax, bees, bee parts and all kinds of things mixed in. This is classified as Raw Honey. Some people like honey this way so we sell it to them as-is under the label Raw Honey.
Most people prefer honey clear and free of debris and so we filter it to remove these physical particles. This is classified Natural Honey.
Some customers will ask if our honey is heated. They may have heard that heating destroys enzymes, darkens the color and devalues the flavor. We do warm our honey to make it easier to filter and bottle, but we do not warm it enough to alter it or pasteurize the honey. Large packers of honey are required to pasteurize which involves heating it to 180 F to kill bacteria. If not done properly this high temperature will alter the honey's quality. We are not required to pasteurize. We just warm it to make it easier to bottle. The added advantage of warming is that it reduces – not eliminates – the tendency of honey to crystallize or “sugar.”
Crystallized Honey
Honey is a supersaturated solution that is high in sugar solids and low in water (15%-18% water typical). That’s why it is so thick! When you lower the temperature of a supersaturated solution the solids fall out of the liquid. When this happens to honey we say it has crystallized or sugared. This doesn’t hurt the honey as it is just one of the natural states in which we find honey. You can easily bring honey back to liquid form by heating it in a warm cupboard or in a bath of warm water. Don’t boil the water but instead keep it around 120 F. You can also whip sugared honey to make it into a creamy spread – yummy!
Organic Honey
One more term comes up with farm fresh products: Organic. Although we use natural practices – no insecticides or chemicals – we can’t claim our honey is organic because under the present rules, we have to guarantee the source of bee forage. Bees can fly up to 5-miles to gather nectar and because Mother Nature’s little dust mops have a mind of their own we can’t guarantee where they will forage and because of that we can’t label our honey, Organic. Those that do label their honey organic may not be aware of the rules. Just ask them if they are certified!
Trusted Sources
Our customers have rewarded us with steady, repeat and growing business. We like to think this is because of our natural practices, fresh clear product and good nature! Whatever your beliefs we thank you for your trust in us to provide you with the very best honey and bee products. We’re not sure when the business grew beyond our ability to provide 100% of our honey from our own hives. We used to tell our customers that we’re all out. They were disappointed in us. We were disappointed in ourselves. Like any farmer we had just plain outgrown our ability to produce the crop and oftentimes the weather didn’t help matters! To solve this problem we turned to fellow beekeepers to help us meet our demands. We buy honey from them, bottle it and sell it. We know all of our sources personally and you can trust us to adhere to our standards. Each of our farmer friends are family operations who have been in the business for years, if not generations. If you tell us you need honey specifically from our hives we will do our best to accommodate you; otherwise, we will sell you our pride and joy, fresh, as it becomes available from all of our sources.
