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# Brighton Honey: Raw natural local honey

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://www.brightonhoney.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [Celebrating National Honeybee Day: The Importance of These Remarkable Pollinators](https://www.brightonhoney.com/national-honeybee-day-celebrating-the-buzzy-helpers/): Every third Saturday of August, a vibrant celebration takes place in honor of some of nature's most diligent workers - honeybees. National Honeybee Day, observed annually, is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the significance of honeybees and the crucial role they play in our ecosystem. As these incredible pollinators face numerous challenges, it's essential to highlight their importance and understand their impact on our lives.
- [Home Solar Monitoring System: Main Roof](https://www.brightonhoney.com/home-solar-monitoring-system-main-roof/): I finally got around to adapting the existing scripts to crunch the data from the house. Charting solar performance data is a great way to keep track of the output from your home's solar array. By plotting relevant metrics such as total energy output, peak hour production, and more, you'll be able to gain an accurate picture of your system's performance over time. If you are having trouble seeing the graphs on a mobile device switch to the full version of the site below:
- [How to Find the Best Local Honey Near Me](https://www.brightonhoney.com/how-to-find-the-best-local-honey-near-me/): Start by searching online with the simple phrase local honey near me Also ask your friends if they know any local honey producers in your area. You can also check out a farmers market or talk to a local beekeeper. This is probably the most important step--you want to make sure the honey you are buying is produced close to you, and from local bees. Once you have identified the producers in your area, then it's time to start tasting!
- [The Benefits of Local Honey For Allergies](https://www.brightonhoney.com/the-benefits-of-consuming-local-honey-for-allergy-sufferers/): Have you heard the buzz about local honey and its potential health benefits? Proponents argue that local honey can be used as an all natural treatment to help alleviate allergy symptoms in some people. Read on to find out more about what the research says and how to incorporate local honey into your diet.
- [Discover the Health Benefits of Raw Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/raw-honey-benefits-natural-sweetener/): Raw honey is a natural sweetener that offers many health benefits compared to processed sugars. It contains vitamins and minerals, enzymes, probiotics, and other components that can promote gut health, reduce inflammation, and help boost the immune system. Learn more about the potential health benefits and how to use it here!
- [How I Successfully Installed a Solar Energy Systems](https://www.brightonhoney.com/installing-solar-on-home/): This year I fulfilled a personal project of installing solar on my house.  A few years back I installed solar on my garage. The house project started with replacing the roof. The roof had 3 layers of shingles one of which was the original cedar shakes. The south side had 2 roof box vents and the cast iron vent stack for the septic. I wanted to maximize the area I had so I had them add a ridge vent as I would not need the box vent and they would be in the way. The septic vent was going to be fun to deal with. While they were on that side of the roof and working the tear off I ran out to rent a cast iron pipe cutter and would deal with running a PVC vent later. Once I cracked the pipe the main roof guy was very helpful and hauled the pipe out and tossed it down. The old vent can be seen in the first photo.
- [Honeybee Runway – Honeybee Hive Entrance in Slow-Motion](https://www.brightonhoney.com/honeybee-runway-watch-bees-coming-and-going-in-slow-motion/): I wanted to try making a video of the bees using the slow-motion function on my phone and finally got around to it
- [Ginger Date Oatmeal cookies and Chai Tea with Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/ginger-date-oatmeal-cookies-and-chai-tea-with-honey/): Cold winter afternoons are perfect for hot tea and a cookie. Oatmeal cookies have been a long-standing favorite for quite a while. It always was a blissful day when the box of oatmeal cookies came in the mail from my mother when I was away at college
- [A Get-Together with Honeycomb and Hors D’oeuvres](https://www.brightonhoney.com/an-informal-get-together-with-honeycomb-and-other-hors-doeuvres/): Cooking for a group in an NYC kitchen is challenging however it didn’t me stop me from going all out!  While the main dishes are an important element and required careful planning to cover myriad modern dietary restrictions
- [Gardening and Creating Pollinator Friendly Spaces](https://www.brightonhoney.com/garding-creating-pollinator-friendly-spaces/): Anyone can create a welcoming garden for pollinators. Turning your own yard or other property such as a schoolyard, work landscape, or roadside green space into a pollinator habitat is fun, easy and can make a difference for birds also. Planting a few flowers for your honey bees is like adding a few gallons of water to the ocean. Honeybees need on average about a square mile of good cover to forage on. However, adding a diverse mix of flowering plants to your garden will also attract butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, along with native bee species and the occasional wasps. These insects are essential to our survival and need to be welcomed into at the least a corner of our backyards.  Besides providing a food source for pollinators flowers provide cover for other wildlife such as birds and also reduce neighborhood mowing area.
- [Spiked Honey Ginger Lemonade Cocktail](https://www.brightonhoney.com/spiked-honey-ginger-lemonade-cocktail/):  
- [Offsetting CO2 Emissions: Low Emissions Vehicle](https://www.brightonhoney.com/offsetting-unavoidable-co2-emissions-low-emissions-vehicle/): The Chevy Volt PHEV is the ultimate melding of the technologies and perhaps currently the most practical and immediate way to offset our unavoidable CO2 emissions
- [Honey Recipe: Holiday Rum Balls with Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/holiday-rum-balls-recipe-honey/): The holiday season is never complete without rum balls. This year we decided to modify the classic recipe and create a honey recipe version. The balls need to set a bit but an early sample seems successful!Here is the recipe we used.1 box finely crushed Vanilla wafers (11 oz box)2 ½ cups powdered sugar1 cup finely chopped pecans or about 4 oz (toasted)¼ cup of cocoa½ cup rum¼ cup honeyUse a food processor to finely crush wafers and pecans. Crush pecans and wafers separately to visually control the crushing process in order to get a uniform product. Combine and mix well wafers, pecans, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder, then add honey and rum. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll some in each of your favorite of granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Refrigerate in a tightly covered container for several days to set.
- [Monitoring Solar Output via MRTG](https://www.brightonhoney.com/monitoring-solar-output-via-mrtg/): I was successful in porting the solar inverter data to MRTG! This is accomplished with a program called RRDTool developed by the author of the original MRTG. A script was needed to import the raw solar data into a database using a handy language called python. RRDTool uses a database called Round Robin Database thus the RRD.The solar inverter has the ability to "push" a file via FTP to a host at a selected time interval. Currently, I have it pushing every minute to a server. A cron job calls a script every 5 mins which then imports the data to the round-robin database. The graphs are generated on the fly with a CGI script that calls to RRDTool to generate the graphs.Since MRTG was developed to read data network interface statistics I had to work with different options to represent the data accurately, the solar data is an absolute number meaning that it is an actual reading at that moment in time and not cumulative such as a continuous counter. The script first looks for the database file and if it does not exist it will create an empty file with the proper layout for the data.   In this case the actual generation in real-time in watts.  If the file exists it looks for the raw data files and creates a list for import. The first file in the list is opened the time stamp found, reformatted then saved to a variable.  Next, I get the actual data into a variable, format the RRDTool command, and push it off to the DB.  Finally, I save the raw data file to a backup directory.There are some data missing as I was not logging for a while and I have a gap in the data as I lost some while developing the script. For a little extra fun, I enabled mod_proxy in Apache so the graphs, database, and logging are on another server of mine "hidden" behind this one. This was a learning experiment for me to integrate features/functions also.Let me know if you have any questions!*This page will auto-refresh every 5 mins to update to the latest graphs
- [Brighton Honey Adds Solar](https://www.brightonhoney.com/solar/): It was chilly overcast spring morning when we started.  I wanted to get them installed as early in spring as possible to get a full season of sunlight.  The next day the sky had cleared and the sun was shining bright on a crisp blue background.  I threw the switch on the inverter and powered up the system and the capacitors started to hum.
- [Beekeeping and a Disrupted Plant-Pollinator Relationship](https://www.brightonhoney.com/beekeeping-disrupted-plant-pollinator-relationship/): Plants and insects have been evolving in unison for millions of years and have benefited from an elegant symbiotic relationship. This relationship has provided plants a willing host to convey pollen in trade for valuable high energy cocktail called nectar. Residual pollen is an added bonus protein source. A new dynamic is disrupting the alignment of this interaction. Climate change is affecting this coordinated inter species relationship by disrupting the flower blooming cycle. Plants have evolved a response to the spring warming cycle that starts the flowering process in most of the northern hemisphere.
- [Hive Extraction and Equipment List with Infrared Photos](https://www.brightonhoney.com/hive-extraction-and-equipment-list-with-infrared-photos/): Worked another extraction this weekend for a local building management company and every time I am on one I learn to be a bit more efficient and wanted to share my list. If there is the opportunity to make a small hole first when starting and extraction this is ideal. So the trick is to annoy the aggressive bees and get them out a small hole and grab them with the vacuum right away. This time around I broke through the drywall with a small hole and kept banging on the ceiling to annoy them. I then opened a hole about 6 inches square. This really helped as the aggressive bees rushed the opening and right into the vacuum. I did get stung on the finger once but was when lifting out some comb and I pinned the bee between my finger and some comb.
- [A New Beekeeping Season is Upon Us](https://www.brightonhoney.com/beekeeping-season/): Even though the north east is under the barrage of a strong winter I am looking forward to a spring gardening and challenge of what the beekeeping season will bring.  Last year many beekeepers were reminded that the weather is a relentless foe and we as beekeepers in the north east need to stay diligent and manage bees for winter survival.  The more organized of us are already getting ready for when and if the Indian summer break in late February or early March to inspect and add bee candy if necessary.  Not only do we need to keep the supply of carbohydrates in the hive but perhaps add feeders to stimulate the queen to fire up the brood chamber and start laying eggs.  A good crop of honey needs a large volume of bees so fooling the queen to thinking that light nectar is coming in stimulates her to start laying eggs.  It is amazing that late March early April on days above 50 the bees are out and bringing back pollen seemingly that the landscape looks baron.It has been an interesting season.  I was able to capture 7 swarms and rescued 3 established hives.  I also witnessed the birth of my son Alden!  Swarming was a problem this year also as I lost a couple of hives and I think that part of colony collapse is due to African genetics in bees and their tendency to throw off more swarms.  Most all bees are bread in the south and inevitability the African honeybee is a part of the genetic landscape.   I am overwintering 17 hives this year 2 are very late swarms and another was very slow to build up in population and stores.  I think at least 10 have a very high likelihood of making it overwinter.  Five of the hives are a variety that I am guessing or calling “European Blacks” not really like any commercial bee I have seen. They are very dark like Russians but darker some with no yellow at all on their abdomens and are more aggressive.   I have had all the major breeds now, Italians, Carniolans and Russians.  None were a silver bullet for survival in upstate NY and do seem to swarm more frequently and are aggressive, however European Blacks seem to do incredibly well.  They not only survive they are very good and building up honey stores for the winter. They don’t seem to swarm much and they take very well to splitting.  Next year I am going to be more aggressive at splitting up the surviving hives.  My goal is to one day start breeding these survivors so that I can start selling NUCs and queens.If any new beekeepers would like to reach out I am always open to talk about beekeeping.  TWC did a story on me over the summer just too busy to post.
- [Another Swarm Rescue North Greece, NY](https://www.brightonhoney.com/swarm-rescue-north-greece-ny/): Average sized swarm in a row of Junipers
- [Huge Honey Bee Swarm Rescue Brighton NY](https://www.brightonhoney.com/huge-honey-bee-swarm-rescue-brighton-ny/): The call came in at 8:16 while I was getting ready for work. A gentleman by the name of John called me and he had a swarm on his front porch.
- [An Experiment in Thyme](https://www.brightonhoney.com/experiment-thyme/): The new hives were going to take some work in order to get ready for winter. I needed to build up the five
- [Opened All the Hives](https://www.brightonhoney.com/opened-all-the-hives/): Opened All the Hives and counted the carnage.
- [Early Spring Bees After Polar Vortex](https://www.brightonhoney.com/early-spring-bees-polar-vortex/): My bees are alive at least some of them! Difficult to tell if others have made it. I ran out of battery while filming
- [The Arctic Blast and Overwintering Honey bees](https://www.brightonhoney.com/arctic-blast-wintering-honey-bees/): A brutal winter for bees and I'm sure that other beekeepers are wondering what spring holds and we will all shortly take a tally of the carnage. I am convinced that overwinter honeybee survival essentially depends on 2 things
- [Winterizing Beehives 2013](https://www.brightonhoney.com/winterizing-beehives-2013/): The 2013 season is at an end and time to start winterizing beehives.  One of the hives is crashing. There are perhaps a few hundred bees and little or no activity on warm days now.  This is one of the Italian packages I got 2 years ago and it did the same thing last year however recovered.  All others showing good activity on any day it goes above 50 degrees.  I was not as diligent as last year and started the fall feeding a bit late.  It was such a good spring and I only took one super of honey from each veteran hive.  So please don’t make the mistake thinking bees would have time in late spring and fall to store any honey in the deeps. The spring flow is fast and furious in Monroe County but after that little or nothing. There was some dark honey in a couple of other hives I went into in September but not enough I think to get them through winter so I did do a late frantic feeding with about a 5+:1 sugar syrup for a few weeks. In total I fed over 100 lbs across 8 hives. Hopefully enough I think. I made 12 – 4lb cakes of bee candy and did get them into all of the hives and changed over to the smaller entrance on a couple of hives but bees got too aggressive with me fumbling to get them lose. I pushed the hives together into 3 groups of 4 and wrapped backs with tar paper and affixed the roofs.  All up to them now…
- [Harvested Honey Today](https://www.brightonhoney.com/harvested-honey-today/): Harvested honey today; pulled 3 supers.  I have honey bears and cut comb honey in jars.  The cut comb honey is in glass mason jars please email me if you want a quote to ship. https://www.brightonhoney.com/shop/honey-products/
- [Bees in a Box](https://www.brightonhoney.com/bees-box/): I checked on the cluster when I got home and they were gone!  I did see that they had started to draw out a bit of comb from the makeshift top. There was a lot of activity around the box but I could not tell if it was just other bees robbing or if the bees actually moved in. I waited for dusk and tried to get a hook around the rope. After several attempts and upsetting many bees I got the box free. It was heavy and again struggling against gravity I got the weight of the box under control. I then hung it about 5 feet below the landing spot of the original swarm. The last I looked there were some stragglers looking for the hive above. The picture is dark and grainy however you can see a few bees guarding the entrance. When I get the bees down after a couple of days I will do a “news-paper” combine and add a feeder.
- [Bee Swarm Box Rescue Video](https://www.brightonhoney.com/bee-swarm-box-rescue-video/): I came home yesterday evening and there was a swarm about 25 feet up in the Ash tree.  I moved the truck under the cluster and got out the 20 foot ladder. Putting the ladder in the truck I got enough height without needing to use the extension ladder but it was very rickety.  I got a hive box ready and loaded the box with some drawn comb, some honey and a bit of lemon grass oil. I put an empty box on top so I had something to contain the bees do I could quickly dump the bees in and get the cover on quickly. Carefully climbing the ladder, I cut away some of the branches under the swarm to get some clearance so I could manipulate a 5 gallon pail underneath them.  After a couple of trips up and down the ladder I got about 90% of the bees down and into a hive.  I tried cutting the branch out of the tree but it was dead and snapped and I lost it.  The free fall caused the bees to fly off and they were not too happy.  Two got down under the cuff of my bee jack and they stung me on the wrist.  Trying to hold on to the dead branch when it snapped caused another to get me on the thumb.  By this time evening is approaching and it was starting to get a bit cloudy and windy.  Hoping that the swarm would migrate to their new home in the bed of the truck I went in and forgot about them.  This morning when I checked on the bees, interestingly about 75% of the bees that I got into the box were back up in the tree.  They actually moved a bit higher since I removed their original branch.  This time I tied the bucket to a pole and was able to scrape about 3 lbs of bees off the tree.  Three pounds of bees in bucket 30 feet in the air suddenly gets very heavy.  I strained to fight gravity and keep the bucket from slamming down.  I quickly dumped the bees into the hive and replaced the cover.  Another attempt got about another pound or so.  The day started to clear after a cool drizzly evening and the morning bought of heavy rain.  I decided to watch and the bees slowly left the box and flew back to the original cluster.  The definition of insanity is now echoing through my brain.  My thought is now perhaps instead of bring the bees to the hive bring the hive to the bees.  Early in the year I made a few nuk boxes.  I quickly put in the standard mix of frames with drawn comb, honey and a bit of lemon grass oil.  I screwed in some deck screws and tied on some close line cord.  I put an S-hook on the end of my pole and got it up in the tree right with one of the open ends against the cluster.  They are starting to slowly move in!  I will put the frames into the hive once the bees seem to settle into the box.  The tricky part will be getting the box plus bees down carefully.  I am thinking about using a few deck screws to carefully move the box slowly down the tree a few feet per day.
- [Hive Swarmed Today](https://www.brightonhoney.com/hive-swarmed-today/): One of my hives swarmed today around 11:00.  I watched them pour out of the hive and form a cloud of cycloning bees.  They settled in the ancient walnut next to the driveway about 60 feet up.  I did put out small 4 frame nuk box with some frames of old comb, a bit of honey and a few drops of lemon oil then ignored it for most of the day.  Around 4:00 I looked out and the sky was full of bees and within 2 minutes they were gone.  I think I caught the end of their movement.  I walked a quick circle about 100 feet from the tree but no sign of them.  The nuk box was of a lot of interest to some other bees but I guess not enough to the new queen.
- [Hard Working Hive](https://www.brightonhoney.com/hard-working-hive/): This is a hard working hive. Very hot and damp, the bees were out working hard today and decided to take a break out on the porch. This is my power hive. This hive swarmed out last year and was queenless so I re-queened it with a Carniolan from a guy in Ohio. You can see the results. I am going to attempt raising queens this year and this will be my breeder queen. Good chance the locusts will be blooming this year and I need to get more supers on the hives.
- [The Maples are in Bloom](https://www.brightonhoney.com/maples-in-bloom/): The maples are in bloom and have opened up yesterday and I am congestion and sneezing.  No sign of the basswoods blooming but still a bit early for them. The wild bees are very aggressive and Amy got stung Sunday.
- [The honey supers went on today](https://www.brightonhoney.com/honey-supers-today/): The Forsythia blossomed here Wednesday. The shad should be running in the Hudson now. Wonder if any of the Gabrielson boys are still fishing in Nyack... Well I got on the honey supers on today. All the hives seem healthy. I also filled the feeders. Last weekend the first feeding of the season took 20lbs of sugar and another 15 later in the week. It will be cool on and off this week and the hives are still fairly light. There was capped brood in the hives when I looked down into the brood chamber. I did not want to pull any frames as I was worried about letting the brood chamber get too cool. I quickly put on the queen excluders and put a single super on. I did inspect all the honey frames and cleaned out a few with the remains of wax moths. Not too comfortable with these queen excluders. I there are not many bees in the supers by next weekend I will pull them out and risk a few brood in the supers. I did not add a super to the hive with the rescued bees from late fall as the population of that hive is still very low. Also the one pure Russian hive I am leaving and will perhaps use as a queen starter hive or split it. Not sure yet. Once the supers are all drawn out with comb I will pull the feeders.
- [Welcome to the new BrightonHoney.com](https://www.brightonhoney.com/welcome-to-the-new-brightonhoney-com/): The New Brighton Honey Site
Welcome to the new BrightonHoney.com website.  This will be the online path for local bee keeping questions help or if you need quick access to local beekeeping supplies and of course honey!  Please check back often as I will be updating my blog with what I am doing with my bees and answering online questions.
My home page will bring attention to any new developments regarding my hives and honey availability.  It also provides quick and easy access to my blog, Facebook page, and RSS feed including other social connect venues.
Please feel free to connect with me.  I believe it is critical for any blog to keep open communication.  You can also receive periodic e-mail updates by signing up for my e-newsletter.  And you can get the very latest updates on what I’m doing on my Facebook page.
How I Can Help? I love to talk about bees and beekeeping and am here to help in any way possible.  My wife and I love to garden and we strive to be organic committed to green living.  We recycle anything and everything including composting kitchen waste, yard waste and anything organic.  Very little goes to road for pickup unless it’s hard recyclables such as glass or plastic or other waste that cannot be recycled.
Resources: If I cannot help you directly I will try and follow up with other resource that can assist or get you more information.
-ward

## Pages
- [Raw Local Wildflower Honey – Brighton Honey: Locally Sourced, Chemical-Free Honey from Upstate NY](https://www.brightonhoney.com/): Looking for natural, raw, and locally sourced wildflower honey? Look no further! Brighton Honey in New York offers pure, unfiltered honey straight from the hives. Contact us or shop online for this delicious and healthy treat.
- [Return Policy](https://www.brightonhoney.com/return-policy/): Thank you for your purchase. We hope you are happy with your purchase. However, if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase for any reason, you may return it to us for a full refund or an exchange. Please see below for more information on our return policy. RETURNS All returns must be postmarked within thirty (30) days of the purchase date. All returned items must be in new and unused condition, with all original tags and labels attached. RETURN PROCESS To return an item, please email customer service at info@brightonhoney.com to obtain a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number. After receiving an RMA number, place the item securely in its original packaging, and mail your return to the following address: Brighton Honey Attn: Returns RMA # 106 Norman Rd. ROCHESTER, NY 14623 United States Please note, you will be responsible for all return shipping charges. We strongly recommend that you use a trackable method to mail your return. REFUNDS After receiving your return and inspecting the condition of your item, we will process your return or exchange. Please allow at least ten (10) days from the receipt of your item to process your return or exchange. We will notify you by email when your return has been processed. EXCEPTIONS For defective or damaged products, please contact us at the customer service number below to arrange a refund or exchange. QUESTIONS If you have any questions concerning our return policy, please contact us at: info@brightonhoney.com
- [Raw Honey 100% Local Honey – Online Store](https://www.brightonhoney.com/shop/): Welcome to our online store!
Visit us at the raw honey shop
We specialize in raw honey 100% local honey. The honey is direct from my hives, strained and bottled. Never heat treated
**Feel free to browse around and if you do not see something you need please call I may have it:
**If you are experiencing issues please call right away. 585-376-0930
Purchase Pure Honey Online
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.brightonhoney.com/privacy-policy/): An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
- [Brighton Honey Marketing Page](https://www.brightonhoney.com/brighton-honey-marketing-page/): I wanted to test and create a page of backlinks to every online resource that has a link to Brighton Honey. My hope is google will index this page and follow the links back. I will add links as I find them.
- [All Natural Local Honey Products](https://www.brightonhoney.com/shop/honey-products/): Local Honey and Raw Honey Products
- [Check your Order Status](https://www.brightonhoney.com/shop/order-status/): Order status:
- [Meet the beekeeper: Ward Graham](https://www.brightonhoney.com/ward/): Ward Graham Beekeeper, civil engineer who always breaking or fixing something also loves a good problem to solve. I mostly spend time working and worrying about my bees. I also enjoy art, reading old science fiction rags, traveling, and making a mess of the yard with the tractor. I have been to over 40 countries. If you would like to reach out, please send an email.Other stuff! I also do data center consulting, network troubleshooting, router management, SEO/web WordPress consulting, and network communications design and consulting.Live simply so others can simply live. Contact me
- [Honeybee Swarm Rescue and Bee Removal](https://www.brightonhoney.com/swarms/): or this on a house:
- [Natural Honey Facts and Information](https://www.brightonhoney.com/honey-facts/): Why does honey crystallize? Honey is a supersaturated solution meaning that there is more sugar dissolved in it than technically the water can hold. The high concentration of sugar makes the solution unstable and over time the sugar will precipitate out and crystallize. Only raw natural honey crystallizes.
- [Bees and Beekeeping](https://www.brightonhoney.com/beekeeping/): In the spring and summer, the bees and beekeepers are hard at work and if you stop by for honey I can give you a quick tour. The bees in the spring are typically very gentle as there is plenty of nectar. They will be very busy gathering nectar and pollen. You will see bees frantically flying in and out of the hives. WARNING: If you are allergic to bees, please respect the bees and the beekeeper and keep your distance. Bees returning to the hive are on autopilot and will bump into you if you get in between them and their hive. Or they will investigate people if they happen to be wearing flowery-smelling perfumes or shampoos. Bees are vegetarians or vegans and will typically leave you alone unless they think you are a threat. Swatting at or blowing on bees stimulates their defenses and they will sting. Normally it is safest to ignore them. If you want to try beekeeping, it’s not that hard. Bees have been around for over 100 million years and know how to survive. Humans can provide a good home for them and the bees do most of the work. You will have to feed them replacing their carbohydrate stores if you want to rob them of honey. Bees are not for the faint of heart, you WILL get stung! They are not pets or domesticated in any way. They are wild animals and livestock to the beekeeper. Old lore tells us that bee stings can ease arthritis pains and some folks do get stung regularly. For a typical person, the sting can hurt for a day. However, the human body will build a defense and after a while, as you get stung it will start to feel similar to a mosquito bite over time and will be a lot of fun to scratch when it starts itching. You will need to decide where you want to keep bees. A best practice is to keep hives 60+ feet away from occupied buildings and 20 feet from outbuildings. Bees need access to a clean water source and they seem to like swimming pools. Your neighbors may complain about bees in the pool or if they have a pond or birdbath. I would suggest a birdbath near your bees in your garden or if you live near a pond or stream even better! Bees need a nectar source and will forage typically up to two and in extremes three miles from hives. Hives should face South or South-East so they get morning sun. Hives need from my experience 2-3 hours of full sun and 8 hours of part sun in the summer. Beehives need to get this warmth to help drive off moisture from the nectar. Moisture in the hives is very dangerous in winter. This is one of the mistakes new beekeepers make when feeding late in the season – fall low sugar-to-water ratio feeding... Beekeeping does have some initial investment and getting started costs around $400+ for your first boxes, bee suit, and tools. Bees will then cost another 100-150 depending on if ordering a nuc or a package. Order early in the year as bee dealers will typically sell out early. However, ask your friends and other local beekeepers for bees! Local bees are more apt to be healthy and hardy and you will make a beekeeper happy. The best time to get your bees is in late May or early April here in the northeast. Once you have bees be ready to feed them frantically. Feed only sugar water! In the spring 1:1 sugar as it will stimulate the queen to lay eggs and the workers to draw out comb. Feeding issues of some sort is what new beekeepers suffer from the most in my experience! Two hives are the max a new beekeeper should have. You will learn how to interact with the bees and not get overwhelmed. Two hives will also provide some comparison on how the hives are doing. You may not get much honey the first year as a lot of energy goes into drawing out comb. Bees need up to 8 lbs of honey to produce 1 lb of wax so essentially between 8 and 10 lbs sugar during the first new hive feeding will be just so the bees draw out comb. The following year if your bees survive over winter you will get 20-30 lbs of honey per hive. Next year you could get 60-100lbs on average or a good year and super-duper bees you can get 120+ lbs! Expect to lose between 20-40% of your bees in the northeast per year. This is natural selection and if you rob bees and do not replace carbohydrates for winter heat production the bees will starve and freeze. Bees are under pressure from all kinds of health issues. Bees need clean water otherwise they will drink from any available water source that may contain pathogens and you don't want that near your honey. The green flat expanse of the tree barren suburbs supporting a monoculture of weed-free grass brought to you by Chemlawn that does nothing but kill and weaken bees. Mites are the bee’s worst enemy. Imagine bugs the size of Frisbees on your body sucking your blood and infecting you with other diseases. Wax moths and African hive beetles live on wax and honey destroying the fragile comb matrix. Mice like to use the hives as a shelter for overwintering and will eat the honey all winter long destroying comb. (If a good kitty is on security detail you will not have problems) Moving nectar from flower to hive requires energy so bees need to be fairly close to that energy source. The farther the bees need to fly to find a nectar source impacts the amount of energy the bees can store. My lawn supports a healthy ecosystem of life-supporting wild grasses and I am very happy to see snowdrops and the random crocus in early spring, clover, and dandelions in summer; my bees seem happy with it. Read about beekeeping on the internet and watch YouTube videos. I have killed bees and you will too. There are always veteran beekeepers that are willing to share advice and war stories.
- [Beekeeping and Honey Blog](https://www.brightonhoney.com/blog/): Ward's Beekeeping and Honey Blog
- [Contact Brighton Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/about/contact/): Need help with any of the following:Question about our productsNeed assistance placing an orderJust want to say helloFill out your info below and we will be in contact!
- [Learn a Little More About Brighton Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/about/): Brighton Honey is less than two miles from Strong Hospital in Rochester, NY, there are about 500,000 busy bees making honey. Twice a year I go into my backyard and harvest the honey from my hives. I separate the honey from the comb, strain it, and put it into bottles. My bees are of different types. A few are a Russian mix, known for their hardiness and gentleness, and their rich dark color. Most of the hives are Golden Italians of the variety called Minnesota Hygienic. These bees are also gentle and produce lots of honey. They sometimes don't make it through cold winters. I have one hive where the Italian Queen mated with a Russian drone and produced a mixed hive. These bees are a little more aggressive, but they are strong and make lots of honey. Brighton Honey Email: info@brightonhoney.com Address: 106 Norman Rd Brighton, New York 14623-1154 US Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday17:00 – 19:00Saturday, Sunday06:00 – 19:00 Customer Service: +1-585-376-0930 Technical Support: +1-585-376-0930 Sales: +1-585-376-0930  
- [Spam](https://www.brightonhoney.com/spam/): The website from which you accessed this agreement ("the Website") is provided to you subject to the following conditions. These terms are in addition to any other terms governing access to the Website. By visiting (in any manner) the Website you accept these terms and conditions (the "Terms of Service"). Please read them carefully.Any Non-Human Visitors to the Website shall be considered agents of the individual(s) who controls, authors or otherwise makes use of them. These individuals shall ultimately be responsible for the behavior of their Non-Human Visitor agents and are liable for violations of the Terms of Service.

## Products
- [Fall Dark Local Raw Natural Honey 16oz Glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/fall-dark-local-raw-natural-honey-16oz-glass/): Spring Light Pure local raw natural honey in a 16oz glass jar
- [3lb Spring Wildflower Light Honey in glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/3lb-spring-wildflower-light-honey/): Spring light honey. 3 full lbs of honey in a glass mason jar
- [Pure raw spring light honey in 2lb Squeezable Plastic](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/pure-raw-spring-light-honey-in-2lb-squeezable-plastic/): Pure local raw natural honey in in plastic
- [3lb Fall Wildflower Dark Honey in Glass | Rich and Flavorful](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/3lb-fall-dark-honey/): Indulge in the deep amber color and robust taste of this 3lb Fall Wildflower Dark Honey. Made from the finest fall wildflowers, it's perfect for adding a touch of sweetness to your favorite dishes or beverages.
- [Honey – Full Frame](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/honey-full-frame/): *** STOP *** Please read! This product cannot be shipped it is too fragle. Pickup only!
- [Spring Light Local Raw Natural Honey 16oz Glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/local-raw-natural-honey-16oz-glass/): Spring Light Pure local raw natural honey in a 16oz glass jar
- [Creamed Honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/creamed-honey/): Creamed honey is made from 100% of our own pure raw honey. Meticulously made from grinding crystalized honey to create a smooth creamy starter.
- [Raw Honey with Comb or Chunk Honey – Pure and Natural 2lb Glass Jar](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/honey-with-comb-2/): Raw honey with comb 2 lbs. Liquid honey with cut honeycomb added
- [Brighton Honey Gift Cards](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/gift-card/): Brighton Honey Gift Cards. You will receive an email containing card value and redemption code.
- [1 Pound Honey Gift Bottle Fall Wildflower Dark honey](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/1-pound-honey-gift-bottle-fall-dark/): Our pure raw wildflower honey in a 1 pound gift muth bottle.
- [Yellow Beeswax 1/2 lb](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/yellow-beeswax-1-2-lb/): Yellow Beeswax 1/2 lb This is a natural product and will vary. Triple washed and filtered
- [Local Raw Natural Honey 16oz Fall Dark](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/local-raw-organic-honey-16oz-fall-dark/): Pure local raw natural honey in a 16oz squeezable bottle
- [10 Sheets Pure Beeswax Candle Crafts Natural Hemp Wick kit](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/10-sheets-pure-beeswax-bee-wax-candle-crafts-organic-hemp-wick-kit/): 10 Sheets Pure Beeswax Candle Crafts Organic Hemp Wick kit
- [12oz Local Raw Natural Honey Fall Dark Honey Bear](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/local-raw-organic-honey-fall-dark/): Pure local raw natural honey in a 12oz squeezable bear Fall Dark
- [2lbs Spring Light Honey in glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/24-oz-spring-light-honey/): 2lbs of pure local raw natural honey in 24 oz glass jar - This is glass and I will ship it however it does have a chance of breaking in transit. Please be aware. I do ship plastic 2 lb squeezable. Please let me know your preference.
- [Honey Fall Dark Local Honey, 2lb Jar in glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/24-oz-honey-fall-dark/): rich and robust Honey Fall Dark Local Honey with hints of cinnamon and caramel.
- [1 Pound Honey Gift Bottle Spring Light Glass](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/1-pound-honey-gift-bottle/): Our pure raw honey in a 1 pound gift muth bottle.
- [My eBay Listings](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/my-ebay-listings/): All proceeds go to supporting my beekeeping habit, hobbies, and research
- [Honey with Honeycomb or Chunk Honey Fall Dark 2lb](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/honey-with-comb/): The same delicious honey with honeycomb in a 16oz jar. Also know as Chunk Honey
- [Local Honey – Raw Natural 16oz squeezable – Spring](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/local-raw-organic-honey-16oz/): Pure local raw natural honey in a 16oz squeezable bottle
- [Live Red Wiggler Earthworm Eisenia fetida for Compost](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/red-wiggler-earthworm-eisenia-fetida-compost/): You will receive approximately 1000 live worms and eggs in various sizes and life stages from tiny hatchlings to adults including eggs. Only need a few and you will have thousands in a well-maintained compost.
- [Raw Cut Honeycomb; Raw Comb Honey Spring Light](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/raw-cut-honeycomb/): Fresh Raw Cut Comb direct from the hive! Spring Light 14-16 oz of comb and honey
- [Beeswax 1lb refined](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/beeswax-1lb-refined/): Our beeswax comes directly from our bees. We only use a natural filtration process to clean the beeswax. Perfect for candles, soaps, lip balm. *Color may vary between lots. All order quantities will be rounded up to the nearest pound. Some residual particles of propolis or pollen are normal and are not impurities.
- [Local Raw Natural Honey Spring Light Honey Bear](https://www.brightonhoney.com/product/raw-honey/): Pure local raw natural honey in a 12oz squeezable bear

## FAQ
- [What is Honeycomb?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-is-honeycomb/): A honeycomb is a structure of a hexagonal lattice of cells made from wax that honeybees use for honey storage and brood rearing. Honeycomb is a delicacy and is honey that is sealed in beeswax cells is the purest form of raw honey. The wax has little or no nutritional value and will pass through our gut without issue. For more information: Wikipedia link
- [What is wildflower honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-is-wildflower-honey/): Wildflower honey is made from the natural flora nectar gathered by foraging honeybees within the local landscape.
- [What is local honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-is-local-honey/): Local honey can be considered local to the region where the nectar is gathered and its source. The region is based on geography along with the tree cover and wildflower mix. Most of the nectar in the spring is from trees while the fall honey is from fall wildflowers.
- [What is raw honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-is-raw-honey/): Raw honey is honey that is taken directly from the hive without heat stabilization or additives. Raw honey will naturally crystallize over time.
- [Will honey help my allergies?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/will-honey-help-my-allergies/): Will honey help my allergies? Yes! Natural raw honey contains pollen. Eating raw honey can provide some relief from allergies. It is best to use local honey for allergy relief.
- [What percentage of honey is sugar?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-percentage-of-honey-is-sugar/): What percentage of honey is sugar? Honey is about 80% sugar. Honey is completely natural and healthy, but it is still sugar. If you should not eat sugar, you should not eat honey.
- [Can diabetics eat honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/can-diabetics-eat-honey/): Can diabetics eat honey? Although diabetics should limit their sugar intake, including honey, your doctor may tell you that honey could be a healthier choice than table sugar in a diabetic diet.
- [What else should I know about honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-else-should-i-know-about-honey/): What else should I know about honey? Honey is a natural sweetener, has antioxidants, and is fat-free and cholesterol-free.
- [Does honey contain any nutrients?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/does-honey-contain-any-nutrients/): Does honey contain any nutrients? Honey contains vitamins B6, niacin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid. It also contains minerals and amino acids.
- [Why does honey crystallize?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/why-does-honey-crystallize/): Why does honey crystallize? Honey is a supersaturated solution meaning that there is more sugar dissolved in it than technically the water can hold. The high concentration of sugar makes the solution unstable and over time the sugar will precipitate out and crystallize. Only raw natural honey crystallizes.
- [Does honey go bad?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/does-honey-go-bad/): Does honey go bad? No, honey is the only thing in your kitchen that does not go bad. Honey can last for centuries if stored properly.
- [How many calories in honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/how-many-calories-in-honey/): How many calories in honey? Each tablespoon of honey contains about 60 calories. Honey has a healthy glycemic index (GI) because its simple sugars are gradually absorbed into the bloodstream. It may be better than some other sweeteners for those who need to watch their sugar intake.
- [What is honey?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/what-is-honey/): What is honey? Honey is concentrated flower nectar that has been processed by bees. The bees ingest the nectar and enzymes break down complex sugars into simple sugars. The bees then place the honey in wax cells and fan it with their wings to remove the excess moisture. Honey is 80% natural sugar, mostly fructose, and glucose. Honey is much sweeter than table sugar.
- [Will honey help my cough?](https://www.brightonhoney.com/faq/will-honey-help-my-cough/): Will honey help my cough? Yes! Honey is a long-trusted remedy for temporary relief from coughing. Honey has also been shown to be more effective in treating children’s coughs than over the counter cough medicines.

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