Minnetonka Wildflower Honey

Minnetonka Wildflower Honey

That's all, folks.

November 2019 - After fifteen years of beekeeping, I'm calling it quits.

1. The last straw was finding out from an insurance broker that insurance companies may not want to carry homeowners insurance for backyard beekeepers. They may cancel you or charge you more.

2. After breaking my arm in 2018, I realized that I had a hobby that few people would be willing to help me with. Luckily, I had a couple beekeeper friends to help me get the honey off the hive.

3. I have too much stuff, and I wanted to declutter my house, my garage and my life. Being much more active gardening now more than takes up time saved by not beekeeping.

4. The most frustrating thing about beekeeping is the loss of hives dying in the winter. Not wanting to use chemical treatments for mites and diseases, my hives were nearly certain to die each winter. Using chemicals would help survivability some, but is not cost effective for the small beekeeper, either.

5. An annoying aspect was beekeeper identity theft, where beekeepers from anywhere in the state sold their honey in Minnetonka and Hopkins as “local honey”. People have a high regard for local produced honey, and many unethical beekeepers and retailers take advantage of that. Anyone from anywhere can legally call their honey "Minnetonka Honey" , or local honey. Ask beekeepers where their hives are.

Before quitting beekeeping, I stockpiled over 120 pounds of honey, enough to last me the rest of my life. 

July 30, 2019 - The bees have gone crazy bringing in honey this summer. I brought in the early honey now, they produced over 165 pounds of honey already, with a more to come later, probably. With sufficient rain this year, the perennial honey producing plants may be doing better this summer, and I have an overpopulated hive. In 15 years of beekeeping, I have never gotten more than 120 pounds of honey from a hive for the whole year. I had to make a type of scaffolding to lift a 50# box (super) of honey off the top of the hive.

I am a minimalist beekeeper, or landlord beekeeper, providing a hive for the bees, and supplemental food as needed in the spring and fall. Other beekeepers micromanage their hives, using all the chemicals and techniques available at their disposal. My bees have a lower winter survival rate, but I treat them with respect, and I leave them to run their own life as they see fit. They know more about bees than I do. Bees survived for millions of years without humans; but human management may lead to their extinction. I also provide habitat and shelter to the native bees, with a vegetable garden, clover, wildflower plants and very little lawn in my yard. 

The Google street view of my previous yard in Glen Lake area, with native Bee Balm and Hyssop blooming. The little sign by my driveway says "DANGER - Wild Flowers" - just a bit of humor from a cartoon I had seen.

The main sources of honey in my area are Basswood (Linden) trees and roadside invasive plants. From any given area, honey flavor can vary year to year, on account of the weather. The weather will affect what plants bloom best, and keep the bees in their hive during rainy periods. In my area, Basswood is normally the biggest part of my crop. If you are accustomed to the usual clover and alfalfa honey in the stores, beware of any darker colored honey. A dark honey such as Buckwheat can be very strong tasting, like molasses. Some people like it though.  The Basswood honey I get early in the summer tastes fantastic, but the late summer honey I get is slightly darker and stronger. I remove the honey from my hives in late July or early August, for a better tasting honey. If you are buying from a small beekeeper, ask to taste the honey before you buy it, or buy store honey from a reputable store and brand. Most major store brands are clover or alfalfa honey, which tastes good, but bland in comparison to Basswood honey. It is unfortunate that many beekeepers will try to pass off dark honey on the public, and expect that you should like it just because it is locally sourced. In commercial beekeeping, they have honey they call "bakery grade honey". That's probably a euphemism for bad tasting honey.

Heat honey to about 125 degrees to liquefy it, if it has crystallized. Do not overheat honey. It will not affect the taste, but it may destroy the healthy affects of honey, and affect the shelf life. Do not give raw honey to children under 1 year of age. Try honey on vanilla ice cream as a topping. Don't waste it in coffee or tea. Use honey that tastes bad in coffee, tea or cooking.

A good beekeeping themed movie is "Ulee's Gold", about a small commercial beekeeper in Florida with family problems. It does a good job of depicting what beekeeping is like, and doesn't depict the main character, a Vietnam combat veteran, as a crazed maniac. As a former beekeeper and infantryman, I recommend this movie. Not suitable for children, on account of some of the language used and violence.

As a former member of the Minnesota International Center, I have hosted visitors from all over the world . Since I started beekeeping, I have sent a jar of Minnetonka Wildflower honey and a Minnesota quarter dollar home with each guest I had. My Minnetonka Wildflower Honey has gone to visitors from dozens of countries in six continents.

I and my wife with a guest from Zimbabwe and two British MPs (Members of Parliament).

dewnist@gmail.com   My junk email address, that I only check a few times per month.