Purple Honey for Sale

purple honey for sale

I will be hosting another auction for our purple honey at Beekeeping Forums for all of you who would be interested in buying a jar. Please feel free to join us and have some fun! The auction there will end at 4pm est. on January the 16th so you better hurry and get a foot in!

Our Purple Honey

This post is an excerpt from our original purple honey post on my Mom's Blog

it really is purple!

purple honey!!!!

"This is our wonderful, exotic, rare and extra super yummy Purple Honey!!! We had never heard of purple honey and initially wondered if something terrible was wrong with our bees. Now that we have had time to research the matter and (most importantly) taste the honey we're only sorry that there isn't more of it!! This is by far my favorite honey ever, it has such a smooth taste and a sweetness that I've never had in honey of any kind in any of the places I've ever had honey. Being a lifelong honey consumer I've developed quite a taste for certain types of honey but now I believe I'm ruined..... there just aren't any that taste like this stuff.

It took us quite awhile to figure out what is going on with our honey and the truth of the matter is that no one really knows for sure. There are several theories as to what it is that is causing it but regardless of what the correct theory is it is very rare and only occurs in this little part of the world where I live. The kids and I just feel so blessed that after all the studying and working and heartbreaks we have had with the bees and all of the things we know we have yet to go through in our first year we were given such a special experience as our purple honey."

Since that time we have sent a sample of our honey to the state department of entomology and have yet to hear from them.  We have spent 3 more, adventure filled, years with our bees and were blessed with a few more purple honey harvests but, none so pure as that one from our first year of beekeeping.

Our bees are not special, neither is our location, but somehow we end up with this stuff! We are so very thankful for it though, and I hope that we will have enough to sell sometime soon. Stay tuned and I will put up a post with links to where we will be selling it at.
Happy New Year to all and to all a wonderful week!

Purple Honey

We have purple honey for sale on a beekeeping forum that I am a member of. For the whole story you can read This Post on my mom's blog. (She is playing with some of blogger's new design gadgets so, bear with her.) Her post is about the best description we have of this stuff. It is so rare and we were really blessed to be able to harvest enough to sell this year. Also, if your just curious about purple honey, you can read this thread at the beekeeping forum where I will be selling the honey and ask questions there, if you have any.

The Benefits of Honey Bees and Beekeeping

one of our girls, hard at work

Honey bees are an essential part of our economy. They pollinate over 1/3 of the plants that make up our diet. Crops such as almonds, apples, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon, strawberries, oranges, and many others rely on honeybees for pollination. Our livestock also rely on honeybee pollinated crops for their food. Such as alfalfa, almonds, and canola. So, not only are honeybees responsible for most of our fruits and nuts, but most of our dairy and meat products as well. In addition to pollinating agricultural crops honeybees pollinate home gardens, orchards, and wildlife habitat. According to a Cornell University study in 2000, the annual dollar value of honeybees to the United States agriculture is over 14.6 billion! That is one valuable insect!

The production of honey is probably the most well-known benefit of honey bees. This sticky, sweet treat is beloved by millions of families around the world and cherished as a delicacy in several countries. It makes a fine ingredient in baked goods and other cooked foods. You can use it as a condiment, topping, or sweetener, in just about anything. Of course, it is wonderful all by itself, too. Besides, every wise grandma knows that a spoonful of honey makes the medicine go down! Honey is also extremely valuable medicinally. It is antibacterial, full of vitamins and minerals, can be used to treat various different infections and diseases, and heal severe wounds and abrasions. Plus, it has NO side effects! It is also used as a beauty product. Honey is a very common ingredient in skin care items and certain soaps. Beekeepers and consumers alike greatly enjoy the benefits of this liquid gold.

Beekeeping is a profitable endeavor for all who are willing to work for the rewards. There is money to be made if you have money, sweat, and elbow grease to invest. Many different beekeeping related products provide several avenues of income. Such as pollination contracts, doing swarm removals, selling bees and/or queens, selling honey, beeswax, beeswax candles, soaps, other homemade beauty and and health care items, selling honey bee related nostalgia, and writing books on the topics of bees and beekeeping. With plenty of hard work and diligence one could make a decent living off of the beekeeping industry.

There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from a honey bee. She will teach diligence and teamwork like no other teacher could. You will learn to appreciate the simple beauties of nature and the perfect design of the Creator. The steady, sure work of a single bee can inspire action or comfort the overwhelmed. Just watching the honeybees caress each flower, extracting the nectar, is almost a sacred thing to observe. Then to see them work together and function within the hive is truly an unforgettable experience. To happen upon the queen bee when she is working is another incredible experience in itself. Even though you know you are not under her reign you can't help but treat her like royalty. This knowledge is hard to share with words. However, there are encyclopedias full of the scientific knowledge of bees to be studied and research labs across the globe to discover the things we have yet to learn.

As you spend time in the hive looking for the evidence of a queen, and the majesty herself, your powers of observation will be enhanced. Your management skills, record keeping, problem analysis, and organizational skills will be perfected as you strive to be an efficient and productive beekeeper. You will also feel better about yourself knowing that you are contributing to the environment by helping to preserve the honey bees.

Personally, I keep bees because I adore the little insects and find great pleasure in owning my hives. Robbing and extracting honey is one of the things I look forward to and have fun doing. I love to learn and the bees are great teachers. I stand in awe of the perfect design of a honey bee. From their complex eyes to their tiny legs. They are such good examples of God's infinite wisdom. Also, I find it amazing that one little bee can accomplish more in a day than most big men I know! Isaac Watts once asked, “How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day from every opening flower?” They are such busy little critters yet, they always take time to stop and smell the flowers!

Sweet and Sticky

Did you know that honey is nectar mixed with the enzymes in a honey bees stomach and regurgitated into honey comb! In other words, honey is bee vomit!
However, it still tastes good and is extremely good for you, but I won't go into all that in this post. :) Actually, I posted today to tell you that we have started our spring honey harvest! We took 3 supers of honey off of our hives 2 weeks ago and started spinning it out last night. So far we have about...3 gallons! We aren't done spinning yet, so I'll tell you the final number later! For now I need to wash the stickiness off the dining room floor, and table, and chairs so we can eat lunch. :)
Have a blessed day!
~Nicky

How I "bee"came a Beekeeper

As a very young girl,maybe 5 or 6,I developed a love for bees.(except sweat bees) On a spring afternoon I would be picking flowers for mom in the back yard and feel a sharp pain on my little hand or fingers. I would start screaming and swatting at the buzzing thing that flew out of my flower while running as fast as I could to Mama. She would make it feel all better, for sure!
I hated bees then; when Mama told me that bees were what stung my hands. Daddy, defending the bees, told me that not all bees sting people just because. He said that bees could sense when someone was scared and it made them scared too, so they would sting them. Also, the bee might have been defending itself, for fear that I was going to kill it. Daddy also said there were lots of other bees too, besides sweat bees. Bees that pollinated the pretty flowers I picked and bees that made honey. The honey that I rreeaallyy liked to eat!
So, I tried to give the bees a second chance to earn my favor, and they did!
On another sunny day I was outside playing with my dolls when I began to hear a faint buzzing. my heart sped up and I held very still as the sound came closer. When the buzzing thing came close enough for me to see it I realized it was a bumble bee. Probably my biggest fear at the time. Remembering what Daddy told me, I breathed in deeply and tried not to be afraid. For what seemed like an hour, I watched this fuzzy thing fly about. It investigated my dolls and my feet, then the air above them, then my arms, shoulders, and head. Sweat rolled down my face, the bee was out of sight but I could still hear the buzzing. A few moments later it reappeared. It flew about my arms again and decided to land this time. I held my breath and watched as the insect started walking around, almost like it was looking for something. It tickled my arm hairs for a moment, and to keep from swatting it I had to clench my leg with my other fist. Then, the bee began to clean itself, like the flies on the windows of the house did. I relaxed my fist and breathed a little more. Then, without any warning, it happened.
It was rolling on my arm!! As if I was it's playmate! the fuzzy bumble bee was rolling back and forth on my arm licking me! I let out a little relieved giggle and began to talk to my new friend. It stayed for a little time, then flew away. I don't remember being stung any after that, except by the hateful sweat bees.
My love for bees grew and strengthened with me after that. I started learning about honey bees and they fascinated me. The thought of keeping bees in your back yard like pets sparked my curiosity. Especially since I had heard of bee charmers and saw one in a movie. I really wanted bees then, but mama said I was too little. So I waited for a while, then lost interest as I learned about other things that I liked.
Just after my 14th birthday mama asked me if I wanted bees, she said that there was a man on the Homesteading Board who would teach us how to keep bees!
Having forgotten about my infatuation with them, I asked her what for. She said for honey and because I wanted them. Then she reminded me of my love for the bees. I began to see bees around again, they would come up to me while I was working outside and once my brothers and I picked one up off the ground and fed it some honey.
So, Mama took us to the classes in Guilford County. There we met our mentor and my Mom and I became certified beekeepers, after passing the tests, of course.
We have been beekeeping for 3 years now and love every minute of it!
I invite you to join me as we continue to learn and grow and I'll do my best to provide helpful information and keep you updated!
~Living life to the fullest~
~ Nicky ~

I owe my success to my God, who gave me this talent, My Mom, who made it all happen, and My Mentor, who made it all possible! Thanks!!