Sweet Pure Honey Blog

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Published: 17 January 2018

Yesterday, Sheldon and I had a conference call with Stuart Anderson and the Flow Hive team. Stuart is the founder and owner of Flow Hive https://www.honeyflow.com and their operations are in Australia.

The Flow Hive crowd funding was launched in 2015, and Sweet Pure Honey were founding supporters. The Flow Hive has inspired thousands of new beekeepers around the world with over 48,000 customers in 130 countries and roused many to look after pollinators. Flow Hive even won the 2016 Good Design Award, Australia's most prestigious prize for design. At Flow, they strive to follow in the footsteps of doing business in an ethical and sustainable manner, whilst also creating a positive impact on big picture conservation and community outreach programs.

We feel the same way and Sheldon donated one of our Flow Hives to Neubauer Farms, a local farm in our community that provides Agriculture Education through Growing Minds. https://www.agriculturemorethanever.ca/from-the-community/ag-adventures-at-neubauer-farms/#.Wl-deK2ZPfY Neubauer Farms provides unique, hands-on learning opportunities for children to learn about where their food comes from. A portion of all our sweet clover honey harvested from our flow hives - https://www.sweetpurehoney.ca/shop/raw-honey-products/1-kg-sweet-clover-raw-honey-harvested-from-flow-hives-no-tax-detail will go directly to supporting Nichole Neubauer’s new Bee Aware AG out reach program in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Sweet Pure Honey is proud to sponsor new innovative ideas that educate young consumers about all aspects of healthy food.

Speaking of healthy food, one of the concerns expressed by several messages from clients and those new to Flow Hive are concerns over the safety of using plastic frames. Some beekeepers
are refraining from using flow hives because flow frame is made from plastic. Yes this is true Flow frames are made from BPA free plastic, and is not manufactured with Bisphenol-S or any other bisphenol compounds.

https://www.honeyflow.com/faqs/all/are-the-flow-frames-made-from-bpa-free-plastic/p/57

The entire flow frame is covered in beeswax added by the bees and ends up coating the entire surface of the blade. The blades in our Flow Frames form partial honeycomb cells. The bees “complete” these cells by joining the gaps and drawing the comb out, then coat the entire cell with wax. Have look for yourself.

Light microscope images of Flow Frame honeycomb cells (x7 magnification) (a) 'clean' unused Flow Frame with partially formed honeycomb cells; (b) & (c) top surface of a used Flow frame showing honeycomb cells fully drawn with wax (b) and gaps filled with wax/propolis (c); (d) Single row of fully-drawn honeycomb cells from a Flow frame, note wax lining sides of cells; (e) and (f) Surface of a single Flow blade from a used Flow Frame showing wax added by the bees coating the entire surface of the blade.

You can read the top 3 reasons to against flow hive here https://www.honeycolony.com/article/against-flow-hive One concern expressed is that beekeepers and bees will no longer be commincating and interacting together.  Even with harvesting our honey from the flow hives, Sheldon is still interacting with the bees.

Flow Hives are harvest boxes only, Bees do not brood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_(honey_bee) in the boxes. Beekeepers still have to observe their brood supers in order to watch for pests and monitor over all health of the hive.

I just wanted to address the concerns directly and encourage you to go to the sources and the actual beekeepers using the flow hives.

We have also been asked if we can sell the flow hives and if you can buy them directly from us. Flow Hive will give us a coupon code with a discount for clients wishing to purchase through us. Sheldon is also offering flow hive consulting and you can email us directly for quotes and the coupon code to purchase your very own Flow Hive.

We are anxiously awaiting the release of our flow video filmed at the farm in July. Cant wait to share it with you!  Stella - 403.594.4254 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Published: 15 January 2018

Happy New Year everyone! Wow what a year that was, I can safely say I am really looking forward to a fresh new start in 2018. With my whole family under one roof the New Year has been a new beginning for Sweet Pure Honey.

As Sheldon and I adjust to life with 3 teens, (its a learning curve to say the least) we have also settled into new roles and a peace that age seems to bring with it.

Being an entrepreneur can be lonely and exhausting at times. It is a complex journey of highs and lows, celebrations and let downs. One of the perks is the amazing self driven business people you meet along the way, who get you and your life.  I try to share what I have learned along the way.  The harsh, brutal truth of start ups no one really wants to talk about.  I have recently been listening to Gary V, he swears alot, ALOT, but he cuts to the heart of what you have to do to make your idea manifest into relaity.  Hard work, lonely nights, and self determination.  https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com

I have decided to drive out the Vancouver Gift Expo for the next show.  This will allow me to take my product lines and full display for my exhibit.  We did land some new wholesale accounts at the fall show in September.  I am looking forward to the new adventure driving up there will bring. I will be connecting with organic stores, healthfood stores, and food delivery services all along the way.  We are showcasing our new clover honey harvested from our flow hives and our video from https://www.honeyflow.com  Flow Hive should be ready any day now. This summer they flew a videographer out to capture us in action at our farm, cant wait to see it!  There is still many misconceptions regarding the new flow hives https://www.honeycolony.com/article/against-flow-hive/, I hope to offer some insight into these.  We chose to invest in flow hives to bring our customers pure honey knowing excatly where it was coming from.  It is undeniable the taste and consistency of this new clover honey is different. The slow process, and the floral flavor produce an instense sweetness, and a brand new flavor profile.

Speaking of videos Netflix has a new docuseries called ROTTEN https://www.netflix.com/title/80146284 and the first episode is all about Honey. If you want to know what is going on in the honey industry, and why it is so important to know exactly where your honey is coming from have a watch. Now more than ever knowing your beekeeper ensures you will never purchase adulterated honey cut with cheaper syrups from other countries. Canada No.1 White Raw Honey is some of the best honey in the world and we are proud producers. Although many of beekeeping practises depicted in the serie we ourselves do not adhere to, the overall message of the plight of the bee farm is quite accurate.

I also wanted to let you know about my 2 upcoming Sweet Pure Honey shows in Medicine Hat. The first is at TOP music festival https://topfest.ca If you are looking for some fun and great musical entertainment this is the place to be $25.00 for the day shows, I am there Jan.27th 12-4pm.

I am at the Canalta Centre for the Servus Free Skate and local market Jan.28th 11-4pm. I will have our famous CinnaSpread and Valentine goodies for your all your sweethearts.  We have also added more green wedding favors to our online store.  Our little honey soaps and glass jars of honey make for great green, eco friendly gifts.  

If you are reading this blog thank you for taking the time to find out what is happening in our world. You can stay connected with us on instagram, twitter and facebook.  Stella

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Published: 11 September 2017

This week will see us heading to the Vancouver Gift Expo.

With the down turn in the Alberta economy, our local retail and wholesale sales have drastically decreased. Add several factors that have pushed global honey prices 50% lower than precious years, and well you have a couple bad years of farming in a row. 

So Sweet Pure Honey is headed to our first big wholesale buyers show in over 8 years. We will be focusing on adding value to our existing honey crop while, spotlighting our beeswax cosmetics and honey soaps.

The goal is to acquire new wholesale accounts in BC, while promoting direct sales through our online store. I am no stranger to seeking out new clients. Every wholesale account I have to date was acquired from hitting the road in our honey mobile and seeking out new clients. I did it once before, I can do it again.

Fall means harvest time is among us and many farmers will be pulling some serious man hours to get their crops off. Sheldon is wrapping up his bee duties at the farm and will get the bees ready to winter over the winter. He will fly out of Saskatoon, and meet me in Vancouver for the show. Last year my girlfriend Giselle came out and captured the season changing before our very eyes. Our farm is beautiful sight during fall, alive with golden color.

The Hill kids are all back in school, woot woot! When you are a small business and you work from home, you sure notice extra bodies in your work space. It is hard to believe our children will soon all be in the same high school. To think this all began from the desire to provide for our young family. It is still our driving force, and keeps us grounded in our roots.

Honey Cooking

I am excited to announce I will be making our famous Cinnamon and Cocoa Spreads out of The Hat's Olive Tap kitchen.

Thank you so much for all your feed back on our new spreads. I say new, but it is actually an old classic for us. I brought the spreads back in an effort to boost our local and online sales. The feed back from clients has been encouraging you all LOVE it! I love hearing all the different stories how the cocoa spread is being eaten. A fan favorite seems  to be with french toast and strawberries, or drizzled on bananas. The cinnamon spread is now available online, and at my local markets. As I will be gone for one week, I am offering the coupon code Market25 for anyone of you who want to place an order online. Type Market25 in the message box, and I will take 25% off your entire order when I invoice you. This would be a great time to try our new Sweet Clover and Red Clover varietal honey harvested from our flow hives.

Thank you so much for supporting our family bee farm.

Stella's Cooking

This week I made a simple honey garlic ginger pork peppered greens stir fry. As I transition away from store bought condiments, my sauces seem to get cleaner and simpler. A little honey goes a long way in creating your own stir fry sauce.

I get asked about the conversion of honey to sugar at every market, here is a link to help you gauge.

Thank you for listening and you can follow our Vancouver experience on Instagram and Facebook.