{foodie field trip} Bee Wild Honey farm tour

I went on the Bee Wild Honey farm tour (SWEET), we had a lovely time observing the bees while they were doing their work

I’d like to begin by thanking the Wright family for inviting us to the Bee Wild Honey farm tour and also to thank Lia Picard of The Cardigan Kitchen for organizing the event.

We were greeted by the kind folks at Bee Wild Honey with some tasty homemade honey/lavender lemonade and honey glazed pecans, not a bad way to kick things off.

Our host, third generation bee farmer John Wright (pictured below) , really gets into his work. He’s incredibly knowledgeable about all things bees.

Seriously, they have a LOT of bees, Bee Wild currently has 9 active apiaries (collection of 30-40 bee hives) producing honey from nearby trees and flowers. John tells us that the biggest threat to the bees are a variety of mite called the Varroa destructor. It attaches itself to the bees, gets into the cells of the bee larvae and literally sucks the life out of them. The mites shorten the bees lifespan and deform the bee larvae. Pesticides can also  do great harm to the bees.

Sourwood honey is their biggest crop. During mid Summer the bees visit the blooming Sourwood trees in the mountains of Georgia producing a delicately flavored honey perfect for drizzling on biscuits or to dress a summer fruit salad (Here’s a link to recipe of my fruit salad with Bee Wild Sourwood honey, lime and mint)

In the months of April – June the bees will visit whatever plants are blooming nearby like this wild blackberry plant. This in combination with Tulip Poplar and lots of other flowers produces a robust Wild Flower honey that can stand up to cooking and hold it’s own in many recipes.

John Wright and his dad “The Bee Whisperer” showed us the honey house where they process the honey. When John’s dad was tending bees back in the day the honey house was just a small room.  It has now been expanded and updated with custom equipment to get the honey from bee to bottle to you.

After our tour it was time for lunch of salad, honey glazed chicken and biscuits. What could be more Southern than biscuits and honey?

We can look forward to Bee Wild’s “Wild Side” honey infusions coming to market soon. Look for Bee Wild honey in local farmers markets and order online HERE

I made this DELICIOUS fruit salad using Bee Wild Sourwood honey in the dressing. Bee Wild Honey gifted some delicious Sourwood and Wildflower honey, all opinions are my own, I really enjoyed the Bee Wild Honey farm tour

Get the details on this gorgeous fruit salad HERE: