All Things Wisconsin
THE BEE'S BEST... NATURALLY
Our business is located in Wisconsin from May to October. While we enjoy the beautiful Wisconsin summer weather, our main industry is honey production. We produce a variety of delicious honey including black locust, basswood (linden), sweet clover, wildflower, and goldenrod/aster. Below we show some of the Wisconsin blooms that our bees love to make honey from. We sell our honey locally in our honeyshop located on our farm in Germantown, but we also sell our honey to local breweries, bakeries, and meaderies.
Honey is really what we’re all about here at Indian Summer Honey Farm. While our extracting equipment is state of the art and can process thousands of pounds of honey daily, every comb is still handled one at a time by our family. The honey is taken directly from the bees and, with as little processing as possible, brought to you; whether you purchase one small jar or one tote at a time, the honey is all brought to you with the same amount of care and diligence we imagine our bees give to it. Every step along the way we strive to make our product truly the bee’s best in quality available in our area.
We are Wisconsin Kosher and TrueSource certified!
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Every step of the production process, from the grafting of queen cells in Florida to raise quality queens and thus quality bees, to the assembling of our own equipment, to the locations of the beeyards in Central Florida and Southeast Wisconsin. We take a hands on approach to the management and quality control of the beehives which directly affects the quality of the product they produce, namely – honey.
Truly, the only thing we can’t control we leave in the Lord’s hands, and that is the work our bees do, that is completely dependent on God’s grace and the weather. We give the bees the healthiest hive environment we can and place them in some of the prettiest bee pasture we can seek out each season. Then, when we’ve done our work and the bees are able to do theirs, the result is what we believe to be some of the finest honey this country can produce.
While honey is a commodity, we treat it as an artisan product, by that we mean we recognize the effort the bees have put into it, literally giving their life force into its production. Shouldn’t we likewise give it all the honor due it? We’re privileged to be able to make this wonderful product available for you to share with your family!
WISCONSIN BLOOMS
BLACK LOCUST
(acacia)
Black locust usually starts blooming the last week of May or the first week of June and continues for about two weeks. Black locust is a tree that usually grows in groves. The blossoms are beautifully fragmented, very delicate, and can be easily damaged by thunderstorms or high winds. Much of our production of black locust honey depends on the weather being warm and dry enough during the day when the bees need to access the blossoms.
BASSWOOD
(linden)
Basswood blooms the last week of June through the 4th of July. Basswood is one of our most popular honey due to its unique flavor and light color. Interesting fact: if you taste basswood honey, you’ll likely taste either mint or watermelon. This is an ongoing debate in our honey shop!
SWEET CLOVER
Sweet clover is one of the most abundant honey producers that we have in our area of Wisconsin. It grows along side roads and in open fields. It is typically the primary source of our wildflower honey. When you buy honey in store, it is typically labeled “clover honey” because of its ability to keep for a longer period of time without crystallizing.
GOLDENROD
Goldenrod blooms late summer to early fall and is a primary source of our fall honey crop. Goldenrod honey actually has a slight bitter smell, but is great for cooking and baking, and great for those who have fall allergies! Our fall honey is a mix of mostly goldenrod and aster.
ASTER
Aster blooms alongside goldenrod in late summer to early fall. It blooms in different colors and, along with goldenrod, is an important bloom for the bees to collect nectar and pollen. Our fall honey is a mix of mostly golden and aster.