Minnesota Grown

Stick to local with Minnesota honey!

beekeeper tending to the bees
honey bears
bee hive section
bare honey wild flower honey
Find Local Honey!
+
million lbs of MN honey produced annually
+
Minnesota Grown honey producers
%
of US honey is produced in MN

Get to know the hive:

Bee on leaf looking at fly

Worker Bee

The smallest and most common bee in the hive. This bee earns its name as it spends most of its six weeks of life working. Tasks include: cleaning, feeding, caring for the queen, and collecting pollen, nectar, and water. 1

queen bee among her hive mates

The Queen

An adult mated female that is the mother of most, if not all, of the hive. Her life is spent laying eggs. Only one queen lives in the hive at a time. The worker bees care for her every need. 1

Beekeeper holding a frame of honeycomb

Drones

Male bees that do not have stingers and don't collect food. These bees exist to mate with unfertilized queens that take the place of the current queen when she becomes infertile or dies. 1

Honey recipes:

Baked Winter Squash with Apples
Honey-Basil Lemonade
Minnesota Meat & Cheese Board
Strawberry Fruit Leather
Sweet Flower Berry Tea

Glass container of three differnet types of honey

Keep honey at room temperature to avoid crystallization. Do not put honey in the fridge. 

If you are looking to keep honey well beyond the season, put it in the freezer. This will stop the crystallization process and the honey will re-liquefy when it thaws. 

Has your honey crystallized? place the jar in a pan of water and slowly add heat. Be sure not to bring the honey to a boil. overheating can cause it to lose flavor and nutrients. 

Raw honey is more prone to crystallization than heavily processed honey. 

honey stored in multiple containers
1. MAAREC

**Photos courtesy of Bare Honey, Bee Sweet Honey, and Gardner Bees.