What is the shelf life of your products; do I have to keep them in the fridge?

Honey keeps longer than any food and will keep for up to 4,000 years. As there is honey in all of our products, this helps them be naturally preserved. You should keep the honey and all other products at room temperature.  Fresh bee pollen should be kept in the freezer.

What do you use the honey for; can I use it in my tea?

It is great in salad dressings & marinades or on toast, muffins, etc. as a spread. It is also good to eat a little bit plain as a dietary supplement. You can use it in tea but wait until your tea has cooled to drinking temperature so that you preserve as much of the live enzymes as possible. Heat has a negative affect on raw honey.

Are your products safe for children and/or pregnant women?

The FDA recommends that children under the age of one year old do not consume honey products. We recommend that pregnant women check with their doctors before taking any herbal supplements.

Why is the honey hard/that color?

The color of raw honey changes with the seasons as the blooming wildflowers change. The different nectars that the bees collect affect the color and taste of the honey. We do not heat the honey at all so it retains bits of pollen, propolis and beeswax. It is liquid in the honeycomb and when we bottle it, and it naturally crystallizes in the jar into a spreadable consistency, usually around October.

What specifically are the wild cherry and elderberry traditionally used for?

The wild cherry is recommended for coughs and related symptoms. This includes runny nose, wet or dry cough, dry or sore throat, etc. It supports the digestive system (licorice, ginger) to speed detoxification and healing. The elderberry is an immune enhancer. It is used all year round for flu and colds, and any other situation where the immune system is compromised or needs support. The elderberry, propolis, and honey act as natural antibiotic and antiviral agents against pathogens. These two sister products (as they are complementary and both used for support with colds) can be used as a team against illnesses.

How much of the elderberry/wild cherry should I take?

For the elderberry and wild cherry syrup we suggest taking up to 3 teaspoons every hour as needed.  For children 6 to 12, they can take up to 2 teaspoons every hour as needed.  For children 2 to 5, they can take up to 1 serving every hour as needed.

Why do you use organic apple cider vinegar?

• medicinal value
• natural preservative for the products
• helps “pull” the good stuff out of the herbs and reduces the need for as much alcohol to do this
• helps keep our truly raw honey, which naturally will crystallize by the end of September/October a liquid to pour out of the bottles
• it is a traditional tonic in the Vermont and Quebec region used for improving digestion and overall health. The “Vermont folk Doctor” Jarvis wrote of the benefits of using organic apple cider vinegar and raw honey.

Is your honey organic?

Our honey is not certified organic, but we are increasingly using organic beekeeping techniques. In order to be certified organic, all of the bee hives must be placed on and surrounded by certified organic land.  Starting this season we found a beekeeper that is certified organic.  We are looking forward to expanding our raw honey selection to include an organic honey.

What is the difference between your honey and the “normal” honey I usually buy?

The most common form of honey on the market is heated honey. This honey will generally appear golden brown and be in a liquid form. This honey has been heated to 120 to 180 degrees; this heating changes the chemistry of the honey. The wax, pollen and propolis will separate out, and live enzymes will die. The honey is left only as a sweetener, with no health benefits. Another common kind of honey is “creamed or whipped honey”. This is honey that has been heated, as described, with a tiny bit of raw honey added and mixed. This crystallized raw honey starts a chemical chain reaction that crystallizes all of the honey it comes in contact with. The honey has none of the health benefits of raw honey. Our raw honey has never been heated. We extract the honey from the comb using centrifugal force and pour the honey into jars, where it crystallizes. The pollen, propolis and live enzymes are still intact.

I have heard that local honey is helpful in relieving the symptoms of allergies; can I use to relieve allergies even though it isn’t local?

Only raw honey works in this way with allergies because it has tiny bits of pollen which may help some people overcome their allergy to those plants. Therefore, you want the honey to contain the kinds of pollen that are affecting you where you live. Ideally, you would use honey that has been produced by bees that forage on these plants, but since raw honey is rare on the market there is not a lot of choice for consumers. Using raw honey from a different region can still be helpful (there are some common plants), whereas using local heated honey will not have this benefit. Using raw honey from a different region where you live is better than using heated honey from your own area.

Where does the honey come from?

The honey comes from local beekeepers as well as beekeeping friends across the country. We use honey from beekeepers in upstate and the western areas of New York State, Michigan and Montana.  Depending on the bees, the blueberry honey is from either Maine or Michigan.  The orange blossom honey is from Florida.  Some of these beekeepers summer in NY and travel to provide pollination services for these crops.