Honey is a truly miraculous food—it stays fresh without preservatives or refrigeration.
And then there are the varieties: buckwheat, clover, orange blossom, tupelo. Let’s just
say we go ape for apiaries.
Bee Raw single varietal honey is as unique as its floral source. It can be compared to wine, tea, and coffee in its variety and complexity. Bee Raw's goal is to make high-quality, varietal honeys more readily available to food lovers everywhere.
Bee Raw Honey is dedicated to sourcing raw, unfiltered honeys made from a single flower variety. With the most diverse assortment of varietal honey in the marketplace, Bee Raw has been working with individual beekeepers since 1999. Bee Raw Honey helps to support artisanal beekeepers and celebrates the rich beekeeping heritage represented in each region of the United States.
Berkshire Berries®, owned and operated by Mary and David Graves, is located in Becket, Massachusetts--a rural community noted for its lush wooded hillsides and cool summers.
In 1978, when Mary and David produced their original three jams and jellies, they used native blueberries from their woods and raspberries and strawberries from their own backyard. Even though they have since expanded their line, they still hand-pick all of the fruits from their bushes and plants, supplementing supplies from local farms. And the 100% maple syrup they produce in their small sugar shack, comes only from Berkshire maples. In the beginning, Mary and David sold their items from an old surrey placed on their front lawn. Built by David's great-grandfather in the 1850's, the surrey still is used as the Berkshire Berries® logo.
The Graveses still make all of their jams and jellies in small batches using Mary's recipes. The only difference is that they now often enlist the help of their children-- Shawn, Heather and Jeffrey-- to keep up with demand.
Today, Berkshire Berries® jams and jellies are available not only at the family country store and gift shop on Route 20 in Becket, but also in other retail stores and specialty shops throughout the Berkshire region and Massachusetts. The products are also available at farmers' markets in New York City, Boston and Cambridge--as well as by mail order.
It all happens in a 1850s farmhouse in Columbia County in New York State. Columbia county is part of the Hudson Valley and the kitchen is only a mile up the road from the river. The company buys all of its fruit locally or regionally because it is part of the Greenmarket in New York City. The Greenmarket was started 30 years ago to ensure that small, regional farmers could continue farming and city people would have fresh, locally grown food to buy. (Barry Benepe and Bob Lewis, founders of the Greenmarket, were very forward thinking men.)
Beth’s Farm Kitchen started with Strawberry Jam and has developed over 90 flavors. Cherrycot and Raspyboyberry are two current favorite innovations. But the best and most popular is Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam.
Bonnie Shershow's hand-made jams, jellies and preserves are made from original recipes inspired by the fruits of the season. The most fragrant and freshest fruits gathered around New England are the basis for the intense taste that makes the jams truly remarkable. And to ensure that each jam reflects the true flavor of the fruit, Bonnie uses no pectin and just half the sugar of commercial jams.
Dedicated to only using produce grown in the U.S., and working with suppliers and local farmers to secure the best fruit seasonally available, Bonnie prepares the preserves, marmalades and jams in small batches–simmering and stirring each batch until just the right flavor and consistency is reached.
The Lanier family has been harvesting Tupelo honey from hives in the Apalachicola River swamps for three generations. In fact, the spring 1998 crop was our 100th! Tupelo honey is produced from the tupelo gum tree which grows profusely along the Chipola and Apalachicola rivers of northwest Florida.
Lavernor Laveon Lanier, Sr. started the business in the 1890's with a $500 loan from a wealthy local farmer. Having previously apprenticed as a beekeeper, L.L. Lanier, Sr. knew the trade. He recognized the unique qualities that could allow the swamps around Wewahitchka, Florida to produce a variety of honey that is in commercial production nowhere else in the world, even to this day.
Over the years, the business has grown, and more and more hives have been added to the bee yards along the banks of the Apalachicola. L.L. Lanier, Jr. apprenticed with his father, and assumed the leadership role in the family business in the 1940's. Always ready to share about the hardships and joys of beekeeping, L.L. Lanier Jr.'s name has become synonymous with Tupelo Honey.
In 1981, Sarabeth and Bill Levine opened a tiny bakery-kitchen to make and sell her preserves and baked goods. A few tables and chairs were soon added, first for breakfast and then for lunch. The little store, with its unique charm and wholesomely delicious products became an instant success with discriminating New Yorkers.
Sarabeth's award-winning "Legendary Spreadable Fruit", which had its beginning in Sarabeth's and Bill's Manhattan apartment with a few jars being sold to local businesses, is now being produced in a 15,000 square-foot factory in the Bronx, still being operated by Sarabeth and Bill. Sarabeth’s fruit preserves are sold in the finest department stores, gourmet shops and specialty stores throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Japan and South Korea and have achieved a reputation as the finest fruit spreads and jams in the gourmet industry.
The Savannah Bee Company took root when an old battered pickup truck swarming with bees rattled into Ted Dennard’s life. Ted was a young blond-headed kid helping his dad work on the family’s forest retreat in coastal Georgia. An elderly man stepped out of the truck with bees crawling all over him.
"Roy Hightower's my name and I've been looking far and wide for an ideal honey-making spot. If you let me put my hives here, I'll introduce you to the marvelous world of honeybees." The old man leaned toward Ted and winked.
At first, thousands of bees buzzing around Ted’s head caused a great deal more fear than pleasure. The thought of stinging insects all over him was almost unbearable. Concentrating on the hum of the bees and their fascinating, matriarchal world helped Ted dismiss the outside distractions and inner fears in a Zen-like fashion.
Old Roy twirled a frame of honeycomb before Ted’s eyes, so that the sunlight flashed through the honey like nature's stained glass. The intricately patterned, multicolored cells of honey appeared as a window to the honeybee's world. Roy cautioned, "Son, I have to warn you that these bees sort of become a way of life."
Ted’s university years found him living in a cabin rented from a retired minister who, coincidentally, happened to be an avid beekeeper. He once said, "Ted, if you set your mind right and study these bees, you can see the hand of God in all that they do." Following Ted’s graduation, the U.S. Peace Corps chose him to teach beekeeping in Jamaica. Upon moving back to the Georgia coast, Ted learned that the world's two best honeys originate in Georgia. That encouraged him to produce as much of that honey as possible.
Now, more than two decades after Old Roy passed on to that flower field in the sky, Ted finds himself, much like Roy, rattling around in an old truck filled with bees. Ted spends most of his time in the Savannah Bee workshop. But when he tends the beehives in deep forested river basins and lush mountain valleys, he thinks of Roy. He’s thankful for that chance meeting on that little road, thankful to the fascinating honeybee, and, most of all, thankful to “the Graceful Hand” guiding him on his way.
Tremblay Apiaries LLC is located in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York in the hills of Chemung County just north of the Pennsylvania border. Owned and operated by Alan Tremblay, a life-long beekeeper, this company produces, packages, and sells its own products direct to the consumer. Tremblay Apiaries makes a wide variety of honeys, as well as pure beeswax candles produced from its own beeswax.
Tremblay Apiaries strives to do the best job possible in caring for the bees and their environment. Animal husbandry is a 24/7 occupation and an enormous responsibility. Make no mistake, if it weren't for the beekeeper hovering over his hives, most of the bees would perish within a relatively short period.
Tremblay Apiaries strives to consistently produce the finest, most natural products it can harvest from the bees, which results in satisfied customers.
