All natural honey from Camas Washington.
Our Story
Veteran Owned
Local Honey
We started in Spring 2021 with just one hive. In 2022 that hive gave us just under 5 gallons of honey. In Spring of 2022 we added 3 more hives.
.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:1.49%25,w:57.02%25,h:100%25/rs=w:365,h:365,cg:true)
Local Honey
Veteran Owned
Local Honey
Our honey is local only. Our bees live in Camas full time. The honey they produce comes from Camas wildflowers, fruit trees and gardens.
Veteran Owned
Veteran Owned
Veteran Owned
Proud Member of the Veteran Farmer Coalition. Veteran Owned and Operated
2024 Honey is a Winner
Blue Ribbon winner at Clark County Fair, 2024
The same way weather in 2023 made for a challenge, weather in 2024 made for a win! We had a near perfect spring for honey with warming days mixed with rain and sun breaks. The rain to insure plenty of water for spring flowers, and sun so the bees could forage early and build good hive populations. That great spring weather poised the hives to maximize our Honey Flow, and by early July had an amazing collection of this year's surprise honey - Basswood/Linden honey. It was so good, it won the First Premium, Blue Ribbon at the Clark County Fair 2024.
I still have jars available, so contact me at CamasMeadowHoney@outlook.com.
Summer 2024, A great honey year!
It all depends on the weather
The 2023 Honey Season was overall a disappointment. If you remember, we had non-stop rain and cold right up until the start of June, and then we went into drought conditions almost immediately. That was horrible conditions for honeybees and honey production.
Spring 2024 started very different. We had some early warm breaks in February and March, with lots of good rain, but tempered by mild temperatures and frequent sun breaks. This was the perfect conditions for Northwest Beehives. Those weather breaks let the bees get out early, start collecting the needed pollen to give brood rearing that needed protein to start building hive populations. With that early nice weather, we went into the month of June with great hive populations and strong hives ready to go to work and go to work they did. In SW Washington, our Honey season is June. We may collect small amounts from the Big Leaf Maple in Feb (If the weather cooperates), but we rely on June, and June was PERFECT!
Warm days, cool nights, but not too cool mean strong hives had a bounty of honey. This year, I will have plenty.
The 2024 June honey is generally influences by Blackberry, but this year's honey has a stronger influence from Linden (Tillia), that makes it very light in color, almost translucent, with an associated light, sweetness that you will remember, and you will want more.
Spring is Honeybee Swarm Season.
May through July is peak Swarm Season in the PNW
If you see a swarm on your property or building, call your local Bee Keeping club. Almost every county in the US has a Bee Keepers Club, and most also have a swarm hotline during swarm season. If you are in Clark County Washington, the Clark County Bee Keepers swarm dispatch line is 360.518.0787.
When you call, be ready to answer a few questions.
1. How high is the swarm?
2. How big is the swarm? Baseball, football, watermelon sized?
3. Do you have permission to authorize someone to come onto the property to collect the swarm?
Take some photos and provide them to the dispatch. This will help determine if the swarm is safe to collect.
Swarm FAQ
Are swarms dangerous? Not generally. These honeybees are looking for a new home, not looking for trouble.
Will they sting me, my family or pets? Not typically, but you should exercise caution and keep people and pets away from a swarm.
Why do Honeybees Swarm? Swarming is natures way of reproduction for honeybee colonies. A strong colony, coming out of winter, will expand quickly, and then the old colony queen will take some of the worker bees and start a new colony somewhere else. The old colony will raise a new queen, and now one colony has become two.
Interested in Beekeeping?
Start your journey today
Veterans can take the free beekeeping course, Heroes to Hives. Once a year, the year-long Heroes to Hives program is offered by Michigan State University. Free for Veterans or their dependents.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/veterans/veterans-programming/Heroes-to-Hives/