Our Summer Love label is comprised of five meadows - stretching from Mulmur township, through Essa Township and up to the Minesing Wetlands. This honey is full of spontaneity; it’s carefree and it’s sweet, sweet, sweet. It truly tastes like summer love.
Meadow No.1 is located along the Nottawasaga river corridor. The honey bees can fly freely north and south along the river collecting nectar and pollen from the dense forest that grows along the river corridor. Along with the forest blooms, there is an abundance of flora along the river bank. Honey’s to note are the Spring and Summer. The spring honey collected is heavily influenced by the fruity flavour of the blooming cane berries. The summer honey is influenced by our acre cut-flower and edible-flower garden that sits alongside the forest. The influence from hundreds of freshly bloomed flowers gives Summer Honey from Meadow No. 1 a truly floral taste.
Breathtaking is the only way to describe the apple blossom forest that fills meadow No. 3. For over 100 years, the apple trees have bloomed every spring in the abandoned orchard. For the few days they are in bloom, the bees in this meadow work tirelessly to find every drop of nectar while pollinating along the way. Apple blossom honey can be very difficult to harvest this far north. The honey bees are often just starting to build up from winter and are using all of the nectar they collect to feed to their brood. Occasionally we are able to harvest an apple blossom dandelion honey. This honey is very thick, and appears a beautiful yellow colour with a tasty butterscotch finish. For the rest of the season, the bees can be found flying around the hay fields and headed directly north to the Tiffin conservation area.
Where it all began, Meadow No. 4 is where my journey into beekeeping started, and thus was the perfect place to establish a bee meadow. Located at the corner of two dead end roads, it’s somewhat of a honey bee paradise. Rolling hay fields and wild meadows, with the Boyne river valley just a short flight away, the bees are constantly flying in all directions here. The honey from Meadow No. 4 is truly a wild flower blend, filled with the notes from the multitude of flora blooming from spring through fall here.
The sea of milkweed that makes up the 200 rolling acres of abandoned pasture land at Meadow No. 5 is an amazing sight mid July. Located in Mulmur township as well, there is very little human influence on the foraging grounds surrounding the hives. Deemed un-farmable in the 60's & 70's, much of Mulmur township is rolling acres of meadows and forest. The summer honey collected here by the bees is mainly a blend of Milkweed and linden nectar. Light in both flavour and colour, it is a classic summer honey.
The flavour of honey from Meadow No. 6 brings a pleasant surprise with each passing season. Located on the southern edge of the Minesing wetlands, the honey made here seems to change every year. From foraging on apple blossoms in the spring, to hay fields in the summer, and then the massive expanse of wild country north of them, this makes honey from this meadow a guaranteed favourite.
Meadow No. 7 is our first meadow with our Northern Lights Label. With the desire to find meadows uninfluenced by agriculture, Naked Bee Honey traveled north. We are focusing on expanding with two more prospective locations to add next year. Honey from this label promises to be truly wild & untouched.
Our first meadow in our Northern Lights honey label. Located north of Loring ON, Meadow No. 7 is in true wild country. Nestled close to the shores of lake Memesagamesing, the bees can fly along the many lakes, and through the wild forests that surround them. The main nectar flows in this area are snowberry, linden, and wild mint. Summer honey from this meadow is very light and crisp, with a slightly minty note. The honey that comes from Meadow No. 7 is truly a wild honey, with no human influence.
To learn more about why we keep the honey from each meadow separate, and why that makes the flavour so different, head over to our honey page.