What Do “Unpasteurized”, “Raw” or “Pure Honey” really Mean?
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
1M ago
We frequently get questions from people who visit our farm store or see us at farmers’ markets who want to know about our honey. They’ll ask questions like: “Is this unpasteurized?” “Is this raw or pure honey?” “Do you heat your honey?” “Is this honey organic?” These are all legitimate questions to ask. People want to know that the honey they are eating is of the best quality. They want to be assured it hasn’t been mistreated or adulterated. And they want to support local beekeepers. But some of the answers can be bound up in consumer misconceptions and misinformation. So I am going to try to ..read more
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On Winning at the honey shows
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
1M ago
I am late getting this post up about our tremendous success at the North American and American Honey Shows. In the meantime, we’ve received a lot of media attention about these wins. The phenomenal public response and support has been truly amazing. So here are the long-overdue details: In early January we took some select honeys to both the North American Honey Show in Louisville, Kentucky, and the American Honey Show in New Orleans. These are both highly-regarded and tough shows where the competition is stiff. Our wins from the North American and American Honey ShowsWhat Classes our honey wo ..read more
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The Fun of Our Award-winning Honey Sourdough bread
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
1M ago
It’s pretty gratifying when hard work is rewarded with recognition. In this case, it is Amanda’s own “Bees N’ Seeds” honey sourdough bread, which captured first place and a blue ribbon at the North American Honey Show in Louisville Kentucky, January 2024. The show was part of Kamon Reynolds’ fabulous North American Honey Bee Expo, and was the largest continental one to date, with perhaps the exception of the Apimondia world bee events. Amanda made the sourdough loaf about four days before the contest, and then hand- carried it onto the plane wrapped in a large beeswax-soaked cloth wrap to keep ..read more
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How A Food & Buyers Expo Helps Our Honey Farm Business
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
1y ago
Rosewood Orchards was one of the many small-scale producers and farmers at the farmers' market at the Basin Food & Buyers Expo Building a small farm business is hard Anyone who has done so knows you put in tons of hours, get little sleep, and fret over every little detail. Most of us are not intuitively aware of all the intricacies of how to take a dream and make it into a business reality. We may want to do it, but actually getting there requires effort, nerve and fortitude. A roadmapalways helps. So when organizations like the Columbia Basin Trust and its partners help organize events l ..read more
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Renewing Brain Cells with BCHPA beekeeping speakers
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
2y ago
Spring always brings the promise of new opportunities and discoveries. Our winter months are consumed with cleaning and rebuilding equipment, expanding capacity and ordering supplies for the coming year. But as the snow recedes up into the mountains, it also brings us closer to one of our favourite events. I am talking about the B.C. Honey Producers Association’s semi-annual education days. This is one of the places to which we go for renewal of our brain cells. The COVID pandemic has turned in-person gatherings into virtual affairs online, but the infusion of ideas still takes place. So was i ..read more
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On Agriculture Minister Lana Popham’s Support For Bees in B.C.
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
2y ago
March is always a frenetic time for us. We’re just coming out of winter, full of hope for our bees and eager for the new season. It is also the month that delivers new information and ideas, and when theoretical information can transform into practical use. I’m speaking about the B.C. Honey Producers Association’s semi-annual education days, which just took place online on the weekend. I’m one of the organizers of the program, along with Dan Mawson, the other vice-president of the association. This year we brought in some speakers who, frankly, completely altered how we think about the most ba ..read more
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How To Make Beeswax Food Wraps
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
2y ago
We’ve been spending some time making beeswax food wraps for our clients, and it is so easy we thought we should do a video on how to do it. We already sell the beeswax wrap kits! Beeswax wraps are indespensible in the kitchen for preserving foods, from keeping cheese from drying out to covering those leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, to wrapping salads and other goodies you’re taking to a picnic. Amanda and I spent a little time in the honey house the other day and put together this helpful little video. You don’t need much to get into making these reusable food wraps: just some beeswax, jojoba ..read more
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World Supplier of Nosema Medication Fumagilin-B Shuts Down
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
2y ago
Beekeepers have an increasingly difficult time keeping their bees healthy. Whether it is mites, a stunning array of viruses, small hive beetle or the two versions nosema, Nosema apis and its more virulent cousin, Nosema ceranae, there seems no end of ways for bees to get sick and die. The Canadian and U.S. governments recently moved to restrict access to medications beekeepers use to treat for American Foulbrood. It is part of a greater effort to put such antimicrobial medications behind prescription counters. They want to reduce the potential for resistance to develop in the s ..read more
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Renewing Brain Cells with BCHPA beekeeping speakers
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
3y ago
Spring always brings the promise of new opportunities and discoveries. Our winter months are consumed with cleaning and rebuilding equipment, expanding capacity and ordering supplies for the coming year. But as the snow recedes up into the mountains, it also brings us closer to one of our favourite events. I am talking about the B.C. Honey Producers Association’s semi-annual education days. This is one of the places to which we go for renewal of our brain cells. The COVID pandemic has turned in-person gatherings into virtual affairs online, but the infusion of ideas still takes place. So was i ..read more
Visit website
On Agriculture Minister Lana Popham’s Support For Bees in B.C.
Honey Bee Zen Blog
by Jeff Lee
3y ago
March is always a frenetic time for us. We’re just coming out of winter, full of hope for our bees and eager for the new season. It is also the month that delivers new information and ideas, and when theoretical information can transform into practical use. I’m speaking about the B.C. Honey Producers Association’s semi-annual education days, which just took place online on the weekend. I’m one of the organizers of the program, along with Dan Mawson, the other vice-president of the association. This year we brought in some speakers who, frankly, completely altered how we think about the most ba ..read more
Visit website

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