NW Indiana's Latest and Greatest Apiary!

Bee Madness
Apiary

Pollination, Honey & Honeycomb.

Bee Madness Apiary
Richard and Ann Geiger
3322 E State Road 20
Rolling Prairie, IN
(409) 233-7492

 

 

 

 

 

Products Available & Uses

Since becoming beekeepers our emphasis has been to increase our own use of the products. We have learned that honey is twice as sweet as sugar and replaces about 20% of the liquid. Slight adjustment to regularly used recipes is necessary to acquire the expected products when using honey instead of sugar. The changes in flavor when using honey instead of sugar are astounding. Example: Buckwheat honey sweet cherry jam using cherries our bees pollinated turned out a little "runny" using The Ball Blue Book recipe. Flavor was fantastic but a little less solid than preferred. Reducing juice a little before adding pectin cured this issue and the trial batches made great ice cream topping. An apple salad with honey in the dressing Instead of granulated sugar was delightful. The honey adds a whole level of additional flavor. A little practice will produce desired outcomes or cookbooks prepared for use of honey are available.

Liquid honey is available in 1, 2, 3, and 5 pound increments. Bear containers are also available in various sizes but sell out quickly. Larger orders are available by calling ahead. These larger quantities are often used in making mead wine. We also produce cut comb honey. Cut comb and chunk honey are both usually seasonally available.

About Our Bees

Our bee yards are located in and near the remnants of the Grand Kankakee Marsh. Pollination of cherries, sweet and sour, Japanese plums, apples, plumcots, and apricots was successful in the spring of 2013. Additionally, effort has been made to attend seminars and practice making queens as well as propagating bees. We have provided starts of bees called a "nuc" to one customer last year and expect to have locally produced and mated nucs and queens available this year as well.

Honey production is two time each year so far. The spring honey is from flowering tree sources and early summer flowers. Our summer honey after being spun from the frame is clear, light somewhat amber in color. The fall honey harvest is somewhat darker in color and has a more robust flavor because of the plants our bees visit. It is more flavorful that the honey from tree sources. It is also very desirable in recipes or as a topping for toast or pancakes. Some European cultures are more familiar with using honey as an everyday kitchen staple.