(Almost) Spring Hive Check!
Spring is almost here and we're busy checking on our hives at our three apiaries -on two local farms - Lone Duck Farm in Saugerties and Greig Farm in Rhinebeck...
Hany's Harvest is thrilled to offer small batch, raw, unfiltered, treatment-free honey.
Where it's From
Our honey is harvested from our very own apiaries in upstate New York.
These are small apiaries, where the bees have plenty of food to forage and less competition. Moreover, with less hives, we are able to pay more attention to the needs of each colony (although we largely let the bees be!)
How it's Made
First, a new colony is placed into a custom-built hive which it will call home. Over the next few months, each colony will establish itself, building combs to store honey and rear its brood (baby bees). Once a colony has established itself and has enough food stored up, we collect just enough honey that the honeybees have plenty to meet their needs. We do our best to ensure they have enough food stores to make it through the cold northern winters.
The frames are gently removed from the hive with minimal disturbance to the bees and then either spun in our extractor and/or pressed in our honey press to separate the honey from the combs. Any intact wax comb is then available to return to the hives, saving the bees from the energy-intensive task of building wax comb from scratch.
Our Philosophy And Approach
The way we care for our bees and harvest our honey is governed by three underlying principles
1. Minimal Interference
2. Zero Use of Chemicals
3. No pasteurization or Filtration
Minimally Invasive Beekeeping
As beekeepers, we must make sure our bees have the proper resources to flourish and be safe from predators and the elements. Beyond aiding in these fundamental needs, we trust in the ancient wisdom of bees to manage themselves effectively and choose not to disturb the fragile ecosystem inside the hive more than absolutely necessary.
Zero Use of Miticides or Chemical Treatments
Most people don't realize that the vast majority of honey produced in the United States comes from chemically treated bees. Even USDA Organic labeling permits this extremely invasive practice!
Not so at our Apiaries! We do not treat any of our hives, instead relying on strong genetics and favorable hive conditions to help our bees persevere.
Raw, Pure & Unfiltered
Most honey sold around the world has been fine filtered and heat treated. While this allows for honey to remain liquid on the store shelf for a very long time, it allows destroys and removes most of the beneficial elements of honey. Furthermore, much of the delicate flavor and complexity is sacrificed.
Our customers prefer our unprocessed jars of honey, complete with all the amazing properties and flavors that the bees work tirelessly to provide.
To that end, we never raise the temperature of our honey above 98 degrees and we use coarse strainers to press our honey so as to focus on eliminating large bits of wax while keeping the rest of the honey fully intact.
