FAQ

What is Colony Collapse Disorder caused by?
No one knows. We lose around 20% of our hives every year, but we don't believe our losses are exclusively caused by CCD.

Do you get stung frequently?
What do you mean by frequently? Yes, we get stung. Some days more than others. Bees are like any other critters - they have their feisty days and their calm days. However, unlike wasps and hornets and some "other" bees, honey bees don't want to sting you just for kicks! They simply want to protect their queen and hive. Plus, if they do sting you, they die, unlike any other bee. If you are stung, look for the stinger that is likely still stuck in you. The honey bee typically leaves it stinger behind when it dies and a small muscle attached to it will continue to pump venom. Remove the stinger if you see it.

Greg was allergic to bees as a kid and underwent venom therapy in Calgary, Canada. Bee allergies are fairly common in beekeepers' families.

How many colonies or hives does the Glacier County Honey Co have?
About 1,000.

How many bees are in each hive?
Depending on the time of year, a healthy colony will have between 20,000 and 60,000 bees. Therefore, the Glacier County Honey Co generally has between 25 and 50 MILLION bees at any given time.

How do you get the bees to California?
We ship them in their hives via flat bed big rigs, covered in nets.

How many pounds of honey do you typically harvest from each hive?
100 lbs is average.

How much honey does an individual bee produce?
About a 1/12 teaspoon over the course of her lifetime.

Are there social classes within the bee hive?
Yes. The Queen Bee is the mother of all the bees in the hive. Typically, she leaves the hive only once in her life, to perform her mating dance with the drones, or male bees. The Queen will usually mate with about a dozen drones. This mating is the only purpose in life for the drones. All the work of the hive, from nursing the Queen into Queenliness, to foraging pollen and nectar to produce honey, to secreting beeswax flakes, to building honey comb, to housecleaning, to raising other worker bees - all of these tasks are accomplished by the Queen's daughters, the worker bees. In times of stress for the hive, the worker bees will kick the drones out of the colony in order to reserve more resources for the Queen and her daughters.

What flower sources do Glacier County Honey bees make their honey from?
Our bees make honey from many sources, including the abundant wildflowers present in Glacier County. And of course, they love alfalfa, knapweed and all kinds of clover, particularly white sweet clover.

What color is Glacier County Honey?
Our honey is the lightest, clearest honey around - in the honey industry, this lack of color is highly desirable and in most years our honey is referred to as "water white." Color is used by U.S. Department of Agriculture to classify honey. The seven classifications are: water white, extra white, white, extra light amber, light amber, amber and dark amber. The flowers visited by the bees generally determine the color of honey.

Is Glacier County Honey considered raw honey?
Yes! Our honey is raw, 100% pure and natural. While we spin our honey to remove beeswax and impurities from it, we do not otherwise add/remove anything to/from our honey, and it is never pasteurized.

Is honey sweeter than sugar?
We can't speak for all honeys, but we think Glacier County Honey is!

How many calories does one tablespoon of honey contain?
Approximately 60 calories, 17 grams of carbs, and the perfect balance of fructose and glucose - your liver will thank you!

Do you get tired of eating honey?
NEVER! It is good on or in everything, and not just toast and tea. At our house, we drizzle it on everything from buffalo t-bones to saltines - mmmmm! Just like sopapillas!

FUN FACTS

Honey is antimicrobial - it speeds the healing process and combats infections. Have you seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where Dad treats all health issues with Windex? Greg is kind of like him, except with Honey, of course! If Courtney is burned, bruised, bleeding, or generally feeling unwell, Greg will say, "put some honey on it," every time.

Honey never goes bad. Archaelogists have uncovered it in the Egyptian pharoahs' tombs - it is crystallized, of course, but still edible. Once honey crystallizes, it simply needs to be reheated, preferably in a double boiler or water bath, in order to restore its consistency. Store your honey at room temperature, and never in the refrigerator, to prevent crystallization.

Speaking of pharaohs, bees are a symbol of royalty and were highly prized by the Egyptians.

Margaret Ambrose-Barton, a friend of Courtney and Greg's and renowed baker at Pearl Cafe in Missoula, Montana, created a gorgeous wedding cake for Courtney and Greg that featured marzipan bees with wings made of almond slices!

To make one pound of honey, a honeybee visits over 2 million flowers and flies over 55,000 miles. Luckily, a honeybee can fly about 15MPH. It typically keeps its flights within 3 miles of its hive. In flight, it flaps its wings about 11,400 times per minutes. Buzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Honeybees pollinate, and are therefore responsible, for about 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S.

You can substitute honey for granulated sugar in many recipes - this is especially easy, and wonderful, in baked goods! Don't forget to spray your measuring cup with PAM or some similar baking spray in order to easily release the honey from the cup. Reduce the amount of liquid that a recipe calls for by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey, add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, and lower the oven temperature by about 25 degrees to prevent over browning. Honey is particularly wonderful in baked goods, as it seals in moisture with incredible results.