You have a sweet idea to start a honey business but you are wondering “how much money can one make selling honey?” “Is the honey business lucrative?” “How much does it cost to start a honey business?” Well, we have been there and we know how all sorts of questions concerning the honey business can […]

Beekeeping is a fascinating hobby that is enjoyed by thousands of people across the world. Beekeepers come in all ages and from all backgrounds. Almost anyone can become a beekeeper and you can keep bees almost anywhere. Are you considering embarking on the road to becoming a beekeeper? If so, you are in for an […]

It’s an old story that sweeteners can be bad for our health if we use them excessively, but the question is which one is better for our health – sugar or honey? While the effect of honey is similar to sugar’s effect, honey is well known for being more nutritious, and therefore healthy. But the […]

You have decided you need to feed your bees. Maybe you just installed a package in a new hive, and they have to build out all of the frames. Maybe you just moved a hive to a new location and you want to give them a boost. Maybe you caught a late season swarm and […]

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 […]

This is a super delicious apple butter that is easy to make, and you don’t have to stand over the stove and stir for hours. MAIN ARTICLE: Save Money by Canning Food at Home Honey Apple Butter Recipe 12 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples (I really like the McIntosh and Gala apples for apple […]

Household Uses for Honey Shared from MOTHER EARTH LIVING The sweet nectar of honey is a treasured food for many. And while it tastes great, many also know that it has a seemingly endless list of medicinal benefits, including relieving coughs, soothing burns, treating cuts and much more. Use this wonderful tool to effectively heal […]

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. […]

This refreshing cocktail uses a simple syrup made of honey that is simple to make indeed! No mead needed.

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 […]

Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate and provide our bees what they need when they need it. It is up to the beekeeper to help a new package of bees get established.

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.

After extracting honey, we are left to deal with frames with uncapped comb, or frames with comb cut out and a sticky honey mess. This is known as wet frames. How do we clean them up?

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.