Local Raw Organicically Managed Honey
Where Is Local?
Local to us is Hickman County, Tennessee. This honey comes from both Hickman County, TN and Walker County, GA, just south of Chattanooga.
How To Order Honey
To order honey through our local co-op, click here to see our current order forms. We offer local honey starting in July and lasting until we run out. It is available in 12 lb pails and 60 lb pails. If you’d like us to notify you when we take orders for honey, sign up for our emails.
Organically Managed? What Does That Mean?
Our beekeeper does not own or control a large radius of land around his hives. Since bees travel many miles in search of nectar, it is impossible for the beekeeper to know if the bees come into contact with chemicals while they seek out the raw materials for the honey they make. So we cannot guarantee that the honey is chemical-free or organic.
However, the most significant source of chemicals in honey does not come from the flowers where the bees forage. It comes from the hive itself, where the bees are frequently dosed with chemicals to keep away pests and medications to help the bees fight off disease.
Our beekeeper does not use medications or pesticides in his hive. And that is what makes our honey organically managed.
The Commercial Beekeeping Operation
Commercial beekeeping, like any commercial livestock operation, is set up to get maximum production at the lowest cost, without care for the quality of the end product. Commercial bees are regularly dosed with antibiotics and pesticides to keep them producing, and they may be exposed to additional pesticides while they forage for pollen throughout the surrounding areas.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
The beekeeper whose honey we offer does not use pesticides or antibiotics on his bees or in his hives. Instead, he uses a more natural bee; one that has not been repeatedly bred by the commercial industry. This bee is smaller. It produces less honey, but this simple difference in the bee itself makes it considerably more resistant to its number one enemy: mites. Because of this, our beekeeper’s bees do not need to be treated with antibiotics and pesticides. Simple, I know, but it works.
Another thing to consider is how the honey itself has been handled.
The vast majority of honey you can buy at the grocery store has been pasteurized and filtered and may even contain additives and sugar syrup. The pasteurization process destroys valuable enzymes and heat-sensitive vitamins, and it also negatively affects the flavor of the honey. The filtering process removes even more good stuff, including the pollen that is known to help allergy sufferers and the propolis that helps our bodies fight infection of many kinds. If you’re buying honey because of its healthfulness, it’s really important to make certain you’re actually getting the valuable nutrients that natural honey contains, not a look-alike.
So how is our honey different?
When our honey is harvested, it is simply strained through a sieve to remove the occasional bee’s leg or wing. It’s never heated. Never filtered.
Helping Allergies With Raw Local Honey
Eating raw, local honey can help build your immune system to better tolerate common allergens, such as pollen, eliminating or reducing the need for allergy medication. To reduce allergy symptoms, take one or two teaspoons of local raw honey every day throughout the year. Don’t stop taking the honey when you start feeling better, though. Daily, continuous intake of honey may eventually eliminate allergies altogether over a period of time.
Does store bought honey help allergies?
No, the honey must be entirely raw and unfiltered so the bits of pollen and propolis it naturally contains are still present. It also needs to be local enough that it contains the same pollens that you are exposed to on a daily basis. If you can’t find raw, unfiltered honey from your own neighborhood, honey from within a 100 mile radius should work just as well.
Is it okay to feed honey to babies?
Honey can cause infant botulism, so DO NOT feed honey to children under 12 months old.
What is the shelf life of honey?
Honey will keep for literally hundreds of years without refrigeration, so it’s fine to keep it in your pantry for any length of time. Since our honey is unheated, however, it will eventually begin to crystallize and become difficult to pour. There’s nothing wrong with it at this point; I personally like the grainy texture of crystallized honey, but if you prefer, you can return it to its liquid state by gently warming it in a jar placed into a hot water bath. Just be careful that you don’t heat the honey above 115 degrees and destroy its natural enzymes.
How to Bake With Honey
In baking, substitute 3/4 cup honey for 1 cup sugar, reduce liquids by 25%, and reduce baking temperature 25 degrees F.
