We appreciate you considering Republic Honey.
Here are some of the differences in our honey and that which you can find at the store, or in many cases what you find at farmer’s markets.
- 100% Local Honey. All of the honey which we produce comes from hives in Republic Grand Ranch community in Willis, TX. Our hives do not move. They are not taken to farms for pollination or other uses. This reduces the likelihood of chemicals being introduced into the hives.
- No Sugar Feeding. Once our hives are mature, they are not fed sugar water, excluding extreme emergencies. Many local beekeepers will produce honey twice a year, once in Spring / Summer and once in Fall. By producing twice, they are maximizing the production of honey from the hives, but doing so depletes the resources of the hive, requiring feeding of sugar back to the bees after the harvests. Although many people claim that the bees do fine with the sugar water feeding, from our standpoint, they should be the first to get their honey, we should just get the surplus.
- No Chemical Treatments. Bees have pests which can impact the health of the hive. Due to this, it is common to apply chemicals to the hive in various fashions to kill the pests. These chemicals are applied before the “honey supers” are put onto the hive with the thought that these chemicals will not make it into the honey. As a Natural / Treatment Free Beekeeper, we do not want these chemicals in the hives at all. These chemicals generally have health and safety issues for people, so why would we apply it to our bees. In addition, bees can and will move resources, so there are no guarantees that these chemicals will not make it into wax, propolis, or honey which is later consumed by people.
- No Plastics: A common practice is to use plastic frames inside the hives. We chose to not use plastic inside the hives and use glass jars, greatly reducing the risk of chemicals migrating into the honey.
- Diverse Resouces For Bees. Our hives are located in a forest environment, acreage community. As such, they have many native resources from which to collect pollen and nectar. As such, the honey is very diverse with these sources as well as the increasing amount of fruit and vegetables, wildflowers, and other plants which are being introduced by land owners.
- Local and Resistant Bees. In an effort to not have to apply chemicals to treat for pests, the bees which we maintain are either bred as being resistant to the pests (and have been treatment free for decades) or are bees that are local, which means that they have naturally adapted to the pests and environmental challenges.
- Bee-Centric Methods of Care. We use horizontal hives for our bees. This allows full access to any area of the hive without significant disruption of the rest of the hive. In addition, we use insulated or thick-wall hives, which insulate the bees from our hot summers and recent cold winters.
- Limited Production Methods Used. The honey which you receive from Republic Honey has received limited food preparation processes. It is taken from the hive and placed in a freezer if not extracted immediately. Once ready for extraction, the honey frames are prepared for extraction, the honey is removed from the comb and filtered through a strainer. The straining will leave pollen and some very small pieces of wax. No heating is done for preservation of the honey. Our honey is strained and that is all!
We take pride in what we supply. Our first priority is to the bees, and as such, our production levels are significantly below that of other beekeepers. Many beekeepers will claim “natural” or “treatment fee” because they do not collect honey from the equipment which is in the hive when they applied the chemicals. This is hardly treatment free.
We hope that you love our honey as much as well do. Please let us know what you think.