About Our Honey

Not all honeys are created equal.

Most honey sold in the US is imported, and many commercially produced honeys are heated to high temperatures, heavily filtered, and blended to produce honey with predictable flavors and colors. Many beekeepers also use supplemental sugars and/or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to feed their bees, and sweeten their honey, which in turn alters its nutritional benefits and flavor. At Gentle Bee Honey, we do things differently, focusing on producing minimally processed seasonal and varietal honeys unique to our pastoral settings.

We only heat our honey to 110 degrees or less — just above the 97°F honey will reach in the hive! Heating honey to high temperatures destroys the natural enzymes found in honey. Bees add enzymes to nectar to convert it to honey, and these enzymes give the honey its distinctive flavor. The tradeoff for this preservation in flavor is our honey will more readily crystalize, or begin turning from a liquid into a solid. You can find more here about how to decrystallize your honey to convert back to liquid.

We don’t filter. Filtration of honey removes pollen. Many people like to consume honey, particularly local honey, because it is commonly believed that pollen in honey will alleviate symptoms of their pollen allergies.

Our bees only feed on their own honey. The natural and undisturbed process of bees producing honey is something we make a top priority and take care to preserve. Adulteration of honey using refined sugars and artificial sweeteners negates the original health benefits of pure honey, and over time can lead to high blood sugar levels, weight gain, organ and gastrointestinal issues, and more. Added sugar compromises the hypoallergenic and anti-inflammatory properties that natural honey is supposed to have. These artificial sugars can be added indirectly as bee food in the hive, or directly into the honey after extraction. Both methods are equally as harmful and dishonest. Our bees only feed on their own supply of honey that they've produced themselves, and our product is the same in the bottle as it is in the hive. Just the way the bees like it!

Our small batch honey tells the story of each unique year and season in Western New York through its flavor. We harvest our honey twice a year, once in the mid-summer and once in the fall. We bottle and sell these harvests separately, because the flavor, color, and source flowers of each harvest are unique and distinctive. Like wine, each “vintage” is different than the year before.

Seasonal variations in rainfall, temperature, and extreme weather conditions, like a late spring or an early fall, affect the color and flavor of each season’s honey from year to year. Some years, the honey will be nearly identical to that season’s honey from the previous year. Other years, it will be significanlty different. The good news is that it’s always delicious!

Curious about exactly what creates the differences in honey from year to year? If there’s an unusual June frost or cold spell, the flowers on the black locust tree may be killed so no portion of the summer honey that year will contain this nectar source. Even more dramatically, an early September frost will kill the goldenrod but has no effect on the asters, and that year’s fall honey, which is usually a rich medium brown, will instead be as clear as water and have a very mild flavor. Pure aster honey also crystalizes extremely easily but can be easily reliquified.