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Published: 04 April 2018

Well Spring has finally sprung, sort of. Although the farm is still covered in snow and below average temperatures, our beekeeper will be heading home to Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan. It is that time of the year when all things bees start buzzing again and the warehouse will once again become full of activity. Sheldon got a Go Pro and will be capturing more live footage of bees and our stunning landscape. Be sure to follow his Instagram @smokeybeekeeper account and please let him know what you would like to see, ask him questions, he will answer them.

We have added the 7kg pail to the online store. This pail will see you save $50.00 over our regular priced 1 kg raw honey jars. Just remember to keep your raw honey pail cool. There is a popular misconception that raw honey never goes bad, based of the story of edible 3,000 year old honey found in the pyramids. Yes if raw honey is sealed, kept cool and not exposed to air it will keep. However every time you open that big pail of honey and dig into it, everything in the air enters the pail, best to take out a small amount and store the pail in a cool dark place.

I have also added some beeswax food wraps to the store. These custom made bee foodwraps are handmade in Victoria by Goldilocks Wraps. I am going to slowly add products that fit our green living theme.

This weekend sees the kids and I head back to Kelowona, BC for the spring Craft Culture market. Looking forward to staying at Hotel Zed and breathing in the pine scented fresh air! I made a decision if I have to work, we might as well play too! You can follow our adventure on our sweet pure honey Instagram and Facebook social media accounts.

It is hard to believe I am now traveling with 3 teens, instead of 3 toddlers. This whole journey started from wanting to provide a better future for our family. We wanted to experience life and grow with our children, instead of just existing and struggling to make ends meet.

I have now learned life always comes with challenges and we are blessed to have a healthy family moving forward. Although we face a different set of challenges with raising 3 teens in today's world, the downturn in the AB economy and below average market prices for honey for the second year in a row, we are still hopeful and grateful. Our commitment to each other and our family remains constant. Faith and honesty can carry you along way!

On a final note if you haven’t seen the new Netflix documentary on honey it is a must watch. Having a first hand glance of what is really going on in the honey industry will give you a deeper appreciation for all the hard working bee farms out there.

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Published: 12 February 2018

I am still beyond grateful when people want to tell our story, a big thank you to Tim Kalinowski for putting this piece together.

http://ag-matters.com/the-beekeeping-life-is-sweet-at-sweet-pure-honey/

With our first born baby turning 16 this month, I have been quite an emotional mess. It is hard to believe that many years has passed by. As I prepare to drive out to west coast, my appreciation of all the ground work I laid to get here is evident.

With the release of our new FLOW®HIVE video 

I am set to tell and share our story with new buyers. To date the video had been viewed on facebook over 7,600 times, showing the real power of shares on social media.

Vancouver, BC Gift Expo

This month sees me returning to the Vancouver Gift Expo I am looking forward to the drive out.

Honey Conversion Chart

People always ask me for my honey recipes, basically any place you use sugar you can substitute with our raw honey. Here is a great sugar to honey conversion chart: http://eatbeautiful.net/2015/05/24/exact-conversion-chart-sugar-honey-when-baking/

• 1/4 cup sugar--> 3 T. honey, reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees
• 1/3 cup sugar--> 3 T. + 1 tsp. honey, reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees
• 1/2 cup sugar--> 1/3 cup honey, add 1/4 tsp. baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 1 T., reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees
• 1 cup sugar--> 3/4 cup honey, add 1/2 tsp. baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 1/8 cup (2 T.), reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees
• 2 cups sugar--> 1 cup + 6 T. honey, add 1 tsp. baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 1/4 cup, reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees

Here are my honey eats I am enjoying this week:

Clover Raspberry Jam with balderson cheddar and pears

Honey beet wild dill and champagne vinegar coleslaw

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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.