FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Aren’t you robbing the bees of their honey?
Actually, we are. Check out this interesting book: Robbing the Bees by Holley Bishop at www.robbingthebees.com. Bees produce more honey than they will eat during the course of the year, however; so keeping bees responsibly means that we leave enough honey for the bees.

Is your honey organic?
We like to say that we have organic bees. We use no chemicals or “miticides” to treat the bees or to process the honey. Since most of our hives are within the city of Detroit and adjacent suburbs, we cannot be “certified organic”. By the way, it’s difficult to know what is truly organic honey, since bees can fly up to five miles looking for nectar and pollen.

What do you mean by “raw and unfiltered?”
We do not heat the honey and we don’t filter it. We take honeycomb fresh from the hives, scrape off the wax “cappings”, place the comb in an extractor (spinner) and catch what drips into a pail through a wire screen. This leaves valuable “impurities” such as pollen and traces of beeswax, but removes dead bees and leaves. It is the best untreated and most delicious honey.

Doesn’t all honey look and taste the same?
Don’t get us started…. There are zillions of flavors of honey, depending on the floral source of the nectar and pollen, season, location and the way the honey is processed. Delicious honey is like fine wine.

Do you have to keep it in the refrigerator?
No, you don’t. Honey is anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. That means it prevents bacteria from growing. It is one of the few foods, when stored properly, that won’t spoil. Edible honey was found in the Pyramids.

What happens when it crystallizes?
Crystallization is the natural process of honey…. If you wish to reliquify honey, simply boil a pan of water, turn off the burner, and place the honey jar in the water.

Aren’t beekeepers afraid of being stung?
Yes, but honeybees rarely sting people, unless we do something to injure them, so beekeepers work around thousands of bees and rarely get stung. Did you know that some people believe that bee stings are a treatment for arthritis and they boost your immune system?

Can a girl be a beekeeper?
Of course! And not only beekeepers, but girls can “bee” all things: two of the most important researchers in the US are Apiculture Professor Marla Spivak at the University of Minnesota and entomologist Diana Sammataro at Tucson Bee Research Lab, co-author of The Beekeeper’s Handbook.

What about the Africanized honey bees?
They have not reached Michigan, but some of their traits may have come here via queens bred in southern states where the “Africanized honey bees” now exist. So we are currently learning to rear our own queen bees.

Is it true that local honey helps with allergies?
There are many folk remedies that claim that locally harvested honey works with your body’s immune system to desensitize you to hay fever and other airborne allergens.

Do Michigan bees fly south for the winter?
Nope. Honeybees remain in their hives all winter, forming a compact ball. They take turns being the bees on the outside of the cluster, vibrating their wing muscles to generate heat that can reach up to 90 degrees in the hive. The colder it gets, the tighter the cluster.


Can I have a beehive in my backyard… if I ask my mother and the neighbors?
You would be surprised how open people are to the possibility, if you discuss it with them. It’s a good idea to read as much as possible about other beekeepers’ experiences —there are many great books out there at all reading levels. Go a local bee club and find a mentor. Most beekeepers love to show new folks how to care for their hives.