Spruce Cliff Honey comes from our hives in Southwest Calgary, from communities on the south banks of the Bow River.
Liquid raw honey and comb honey are available fresh every year starting in July.
The liquid honey is raw, natural, and unprocessed – just as it was intended. Our artisanal Alberta honey is small batch meaning that we extract each frame of honey from the honeycomb by hand.
We start by removing the wax capping, spinning the frames in our four-frame extractor followed by straining the honey to remove any wax cappings that made it through the extraction process. We strain our honey rather than filter it which removes the larger pieces of wax while allowing trace amounts of pollen through. Once the honey has been spun and strained, it settles for a minimum of 36 hours to remove any air bubbles. This leaves us with clear honey. Finally, we bottle each jar of honey by hand in 360 g, 500 g and 1 kg glass jars and finish the process by adding our in house designed label which allows us to showcase the beautiful water white to amber color honey produced by our hardworking honeybees.
Our Spruce Cliff hives are located along the south bank of the Bow River which provides them access to ample wildflowers, gardens, and clover patches.
Edworthy Park is within their range so Spruce Cliff bees have access to the wide variety of wildflowers that grow in this area.
It depends on the time of year but there are anywhere from about 15,000 in the spring to over 75,000 in the peak of summer during the nectar flow.
Yes! Neighbours, friends and family are often interested in having a beehive in their backyard but they ask us to care for them.
Contact us if you are interested or have questions about hosting a hive. We can also come by to see if your yard is suitable for a beehive!
The amount of honey that a hive produces in a given year depends on a few factors.
The two biggest factors are the weather and hive maturity. Precipitation and sunshine are both critical for the bees to make honey.
A new hive typically will not produce excess honey in the first year. Honeybee hives start producing honey that can be harvested in the second year but this depends a lot on the weather.
Urban beehives can produce over 150 pounds of harvestable honey depending on the weather.
Eventually all honey will crystallize but it depends on the nectar source. Clover and canola honey typically crystallize faster than others. Raw, unfiltered honey may crystallize faster than processed honey due to the fine pollen particles.
Honey does not expire but it will crystallize over time. It is still delicious and safe to eat. If you want to liquify the honey you can place it in a bowl of warm water.
Spruce Cliff Honey does not heat or filter our honey. This means that it remains in its purest form with all of the enzymes, vitamins and minerals, just as it was intended. Filtering the honey removes these important components along with the pollen. Heating the honey will also destroy the healthy enzymatic properties.
Small quantities of comb honey are available during the summer and early fall months from our Spruce Cliff beehives.
Comb honey is a delicious addition to freshly baked bread, ice cream, charcuterie boards or as a topping on artisanal pizza.
You can also eat the comb honey right from the package as a tasty treat.
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