Hood Hive Honey

08/08/2026

These little black boogers are beekeepers’ nightmares! Small hive beetles are an invasive species that hitched a ride to the US from Asia and Africa. These little boogers fly into the hive, mate and lay their eggs and then drop to the ground to pupate. They can decimate a hive in quick order. Most US hives, I’d venture to say, have at least one pesky critter. While we were in the hives this morning, we did our preventive work there for this awful critter. They have a hard shell and crawl very quickly so when we see them in the hive, we play whack-a-mole! We continue to use pesticide free measures to keep them at bay and the bees usually can fend them off if the hive is strong. Thank goodness ours are doing well!

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

We get asked a lot if we filter our honey. The short answer is yes, but maybe not in the way you think. We use a filter to keep the large particles of wax and bee parts out of your honey! We put them in the capping tank to retrieve the rest of the honey out of them and then melt and clean to retrieve the beeswax. Our honey contains the pollen that is needed for seasonal allergy help without having to navigate around large blobs of wax cappings. Come get some for yourself on Saturday from 8-12 noon while we are LEAP Grandin village farmers market.

07/28/2026

Honey taste and color is determined by the flowers and trees the bees visit. Our hives have produced both darker and lighter colored honey, as you can see coming out of the extractors. We don’t blend our honey, so when you purchase from us it could be light or dark!

07/24/2026

Even beekeepers need additional hobbies! After a hectic few long and hot weeks harvesting honey and cleaning everything up again to store away, we headed to our favorite place, the beach. And when we say it’s a big fish, the flounder is compared the Rooster’s shoe size 14! (This fish was caught and released.)

07/21/2026

Ever wonder what it looks like to look into a box of honey frames? They are called honey supers and these pics are taken looking down into the supers, just prior to extracting the honey. You’ll also see a full capped honey frame. Honey color and taste is determined by the floral nectar and pollen the bees gather. Our honey ranges from lighter to more dark! It’s been a long hot week for sure.

07/19/2026

Ever wonder how we get the wax off of the honey frames before we place them in the extractor? Well, we basically punch holes in them using a prickly roller. The roller punches holes in the wax, opening the wax capping, so the honey is literally slung out by the centrifugal force of the extractor! Stay tuned for more info on honey extraction. It’s been a long hot week.

07/18/2026

We are Grandin village farmers market today until noon. Come see us!