Here at Grateful Bees, we love Bees! Earliest records date bees at 100 million years old, with a bee encased in amber in Myanmar. It wasn’t until the Egyptians that the honey bee industry began. They had official positions associated with collection and production, such as the “Sealer of the Honey”, and bee ‘accountants’. By 1500 B.C., honey and Honey Bees were organized on a grand scale, with their products being widely used and traded. Honey was not only a sweet additive, but became tied to marriage contract, healing, sorcery, taxes and tributes, as well as mummification and religious rituals. Honey has been one of the most important relationships humans have had through out our history.
For Grateful Bees, our story starts a little more recently. Curiosity, may have killed the cat, but for us, curiosity led to bee keeping. We started out as Urban Growers, and with the passing of the seasons it became more evident how all things are connected. It became obvious that there are less insects around today, then there were even in my childhood. Where did they go? What is their function? … the road to pollinators was laid out in front of us.
Where did all the bugs go?
At Grateful Bees, we decided to do something about it. We uprooted our home, and now we have a head quarters of 14 acres of protected wetlands that back up against 100’s of acres of protected land. The pollinators have a home here. Located in a rural community out side of Kemptville, Ontario. Grateful Bees hosts several apiaries in the area. It is our commitment to the community and to the pollinators that have brought us here!
The amazing thing about honey is its ever-changing flavour complexities. Like a fine wine, honey is dependent on the terroir that supports them. Every season and every batch is a unique tasting experience. At Grateful Bees we strive to leave each batch of honey in its most natural state. Filtered to remove some fine debris and sediment, Grateful Bee honey is as natural as can be made. Our premium honey brand is influenced by the pollen and nectar of the seasons. Each hive may travel up to a 8 kilometre (5 mile) radius to gather their honey. The variety of flavours is best enjoyed by storing your honey at room temperature. Natural honey may crystallize over time. This is a natural process, and is dependent on the material gathered by the bees for each batch. Heating the honey gently to about 40 Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) will bring back the honey into a liquid. Heat gently, as overheating may destroy the natural enzymes, flavours and aroma that we prize in unpasteurized natural honey. Each worker bee will only produce a 1/12 of a teaspoon of raw honey in its lifetime. So 12 worker bees are needed to make one teaspoon! This means that a single pound of honey has traveled 80 000 kilometres (about 50 000 miles), and visited two million flowers to produce it. There are over 20 000 species of bees, and the domesticated honey bee is just one player in the pollination game. At Grateful Bees we strive to create a habitat for all pollinators, and support many different varieties of bees and insects on our land. After all, one out of every three bites of whole foods come from pollinators.
Grateful Bees, the FUTURE?
Grateful Bees are founded by two professional chef’s and educators. We will be turning our skills towards creating new products with honey at our base. Look out for added value products such as flavoured honey, creamed honey, salad dressings, marinades, wax food savers, and many more products. We are just getting started!
