If you’re like me, when it comes to adding livestock — or any animal for that matter — to your home, you relish the research. It’s fun to flip through literature and find the breed, species, or whatever the subspecies (also called ecotypes) may be called that jumps out at you and finds its way […]

Good raw unpasteurized honey tastes very different from the plastic clover honey bear that you purchase at the supermarket. I compare it to processed cheese vs. a homemade varietal cheese. Honey bears are simply an accumulation of many types of honey that have been mixed together, heated, and made into a homogeneous mixture which lacks […]

In my opinion, there is nothing more olde-kitchen, Americana, hearth and home than a pie. Some of my favorite pies are what I like to call “Humble Pies”. And not in the sense of the proverbial gesture to be more unpretentious. But more in the sense of humble ingredients. Things you have on hand, in […]

Download this episode (right click and save) Join beekeepers Becky Tipton, Charlotte Brunin, Robert Riley, and Steve Tipton as they discuss the best way to harvest honey from a Langstroth hive. To hear more podcasts from MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends, click here.

Story and photos by Jennifer Sartell An adult bee’s diet is primarily made up of three types of food. Honey, Nectar and Pollen. In this post, we will discover how each of these food groups provide essential nutrient to a bee. Nectar Where does nectar come from? Nectar actually begins in the leaves of plants. […]

Guest post by Dana Harris The benefits of keeping bees are countless, starting from the valuable products bees produce all the way to the fact that they contribute to keeping the ecosystem balanced. These small hard-working creatures play an important role in pollinating the flowers and crops without which we wouldn’t have many of the […]

Did you know one healthy hive will make or consume more than 50 kg of honey in a single year? But how is it made, exactly? You may be surprised to learn, it involves kind of a lot of vomit.

When it comes to keeping bees, one of the sweetest rewards is that of a splendid honey harvest. No matter the reasons for keeping bees, often folks get most excited when the time comes to harvest the delicious and highly nutritious honey from their hives. Most beekeepers with existing hives do two harvests, one in […]

When people mention beekeeping, it’s the sweet golden stuff that gets all the attention. But bees also make another useful and rather remarkable product in the form of comb. What is beeswax exactly? How does it come into existence in the hive? Do bees collect it? Is it part of the pollen that they carry? […]

The phrase stealing honey from the bees could not be more accurate. In addition to bees, at Iron Oak Farm we also raise chickens for eggs, and goats for dairy and fiber. With the other animals on our farm, I feel as though the relationship is a bit more balanced. We provide food, shelter and […]

All honey that is going to be sold will require a clear and legible label. The first thing that must go on the label on the front of your packaging is the type of honey. For instance, if your bees forage where they will, you simply label the honey as “Wildflower Honey”. If your bees pollinate a particular crop, such as clover, cranberries or the like, then you can label it as so.

When we were preparing to harvest honey for the first time, we looked at the various ways of honey extracting. We settled on the bucket method. Using this method, there is no need for further straining or filtering.

Honey comes from bees right? Well, sort of. It could be said that honey actually comes from plants and that bees are the manufacturers that turn pollen and nectar into honey. Behind every drop of honey is the work of many, many bees collecting nectar of a hundred or more flowers. Plants need bees, bees […]

The learning curve for keeping bees is huge. One of the greatest learning curves comes when it is time to harvest honey. Everyone has their own technique and will gladly share their tips with you when they learn you are going to begin your own honey harvest. So, here are a few of mine that […]

When Good Honey Goes Bad…Not bad, really, just crystallized. If you have ever wondered about that jar of honey in your cabinet, you aren’t alone. I’ve been asked by many people if the jar they bought years ago is still good. Happily, I have good news. It definitely is! Almost all unheated, unfiltered honey crystallizes; […]