Several honeys out on the market can be labeled as “raw” or “uncooked” honey. As anyone who’s ever tried to scrape a spoon through a jar of cold honey knows, honey has to be kept warm during the bottling process.

In a hive, the honey is naturally kept at a temperature between 92-95 degrees F…just a few degrees under human body temp. Many beekeepers agree that honey can be heated between 112-120 degrees without any significant change in flavor, aroma, or texture. This is warm enough to keep the honey moving but not so hot as to cook it. Heating the honey beyond 120 degrees can destroy some of its trace vitamins as well as destroy some of the volatile elements of taste and aroma.

Here at Beeyond the Hive we follow a minimal method that our family has used for many generations. As a rule, raw honey is usually minimally processed and we follow that rule to a tee! We only gently heat the honey in order to keep it moving through our machines as well as filter the honey with a cheesecloth. We still hand bottle every single jar! As a result of our madness, the honey retains more individual characteristics than those found in regular commercial honeys! We guarantee the the best honey available!

Next topic of discussion….Can honey really be organic? Stay tuned!

Lets start today’s topic with MUD!

Yes….this is my very merry muddy boot! Sweet muddy of Mary! It was such a rainy season this year in California that I constantly felt like I was walking around with cinder blocks on my feet!

Now I am a type of gal that has no qualms with the rain. I think its calming, smells lovely and it makes my lawn nice and green. However, I start to get a little irritated when that rain hinders my work schedule! This year the rain delayed us several days and we were unable to move all the bees into the almond orchards in a timely manner! Not to mention we ended up making a mess along the way!

Here we have Bob Bee Barker! As you can see….Bob is very concerned in this photograph! He is looking at the muddy mess in front of him and I am sure he is wondering what I, his wonderful owner, might be getting him into on this particular day!

This is just a glimpse of what Bob is watching from his comfortable and clean seat of the pickup!

This orchard was so muddy that a tractor had to pull us out! Thank goodness we unloaded the majority of the truck! Sometimes we get ourselves into these predicament and I am sure the rest of our crew appreciates me documenting it this year! YOU’RE WELCOME!

Bob Bee Barker and his accomplice Stitch continue looking, waiting, and wondering when we will get out of this mess so we can go home and eat! Just a side note…Bob LOVES to eat and he is rather upset that he is now on a strict diet! Don’t blame me Bob! Blame your vet doctor practitioner!  Moving right along…

So, this rather large tractor had a hard time pulling this rather large truck. As a result of lots of team effort, muddy clothes, and a bruised sense of pride, we decided to park the trucks and let this mess dry out! THIS is where my irritation comes into play! Because we had to “call it a day” and go home we are delayed yet another day! Oh man! What can you do? Go home and eat I guess! But before we do….lets take a ride on the big green tractor!

This farmers market is the cream of the crop Cadillac of all farmers markets! Yeehaw! They have awesome produce, fresh flowers, quality products, and not to mention the BEST Colorado honey! Go visit my brother Jeff and tell him his sister sent you! He’s quite a lovable guy really. He did pester me at a younger age but don’t hold that against him. It was all pretty standard…calling me Steve Urkel, pinching, wrestling, telling me my “real” daddy lives in Mexico…all pretty common big brother duties! Don’t worry. I turned out juusssstttt fine!

Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah…go visit Jeff in Cherry Creek every Saturday morning. He is the only honey booth there so you can’t miss him! He has samples, a large honey selection, soaps, lotions, candles, honey stix, creamed honey and all sorts of other goodies!  Oh…I give you free range to pester him all you’d like! Come on…it will be fun! Now go out and enjoy the sunshine!

http://www.coloradofreshmarkets.com/markets.html

Makes 2 dozen
Combine marshmallows, honey, butter, peanut butter, vanilla and salt together in a medium saucepan. Heat mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. In a 13×9x2-inch baking pan, combine oats, rice cereal, coconut and peanuts. Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients. Mix until thoroughly coated. Pack mixture firmly into the pan. Cool and cut into 24 bars.

Beeyond the Hive has just added a local and cost effective way to purchase all of your favorite products without the expense of shipping. Place your order online and pick up your goodies at The Cupboard, which is located in downtown Fort Collins.

All orders will be available for pick up on Wednesdays after 1pm. If you need your honey products sooner please contact us for alternative arrangements.

Follow our simple instructions and you will bee on your way to a sweet local experience:

• Add all of your favorite Beeyond The Hive products to your shopping cart
• Enter your ZIP Code
• Select “Local Fort Collins Pick Up” from the shipping drop-down menu
• Click “Recalculate” to see your shipping charges adjusted to $0.00 then click “Checkout”
• Enter all of your billing and shipping info (Yes you must enter your shipping address even though you are choosing “Local Fort Collins Pick Up”)
• Enter your payment info and submit your order
• All set! Your items will be ready for pick up at The Cupboard, Wednesdays at 1pm

Ready, Set, Shop! Online Store

One of the many reasons I love my job is because each day is always different from the one before. I truly enjoy the spontaneity of it all, but never in a million years could I have predicted that when I woke up this morning I would be picking up one of our truck drivers from the Fresno Hospital!

Just like beekeepers, truck drivers are an interesting breed of people. Loading and unloading hundreds of semi’s each pollination season makes it safe to say that Jacy and I have sort of become experts on the situation. We have worked with many truck drivers who are very nice, hard-working fellows. We have also had the opposite side of the spectrum & had truck drivers who refused to get out of the semi’s to help. Many claim they are allergic to bees which often times is the case & we are happy to do the work while they remain safe & sound. However, many of the drivers seem to be allergic to work & that is okay with me too, but I can’t help but feel a sense of pride when our work is done & I knock on their window to sign the paper-work & they see that a female just netted and strapped their load! The look on their face is priceless!

Since our dad has been doing this for so long, we know most of the drivers on a first name basis. Wait a minute…now that I think about it I can’t recall any of their first names! I know we have a fellow named “Rollover Ray” (for obvious reasons you can imagine). He rolled over a load of bees many years ago and has been unable to shake the nickname ever since. We have another driver called “Merlin”. I still haven’t figured out where that one came from. Either he’s a ‘magic man’ or really likes wizards I suppose? Another one of our drivers is an older man who is kind of like the Michael Jordan of truck drivers…he’s goes in and out of retirement quite frequently. We call him “Grumpy” on his own request. No, he is not one of the seven dwarfs but does appear to be a little grouchy from time to time. I’d have to say one of my favorite drivers goes by the name “Billy D. Zero”. You see, unfortunately Billy D. fell off of a load and broke his leg. It was in that moment that he went from “Billy D. Hero” to “Billy D. Zero”!

There really are just too many drivers to name! I know Jacy is entertained by one of our drivers named “Rooster”. He is very loud and boisterous and weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. The best part about Rooster is he always crows as he straps his load! One would think this might get old or annoying quickly, but we always seem to get a kick out of his unusual mating call!

“Yes, truck drivers are an interesting breed indeed,” I remember thinking as I drove to the hospital to pick up a truck driver named Jerry who had been stung on the neck earlier that morning and had a terrible reaction. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this was Jerry’s opportunity for a clever name change. Almost like a right of passage, he had definitely earned it!