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SUPPORT LOCAL! BUY LOCAL HONEY!
About Boston Honey Company In 1995, I came across my first bee colonies. At the time, I owned a house painting business, and while doing a job at the home of a Rabbi in Newton, MA, I came across his two hives. The Rabbi's colonies were a concern to my painters, but an instant attraction for myself. My fascination and interest in these hives led the Rabbi and myself into conversation. He shared this whimsical adage with me:
"A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay.
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon.
But a swarm in July
Is not worth a fly."
By the spring of 1996 I had my first colony.
My first year with the honeybees was a year of in-depth study and awe. I loved watching the honeybees and their workings as a well-orchestrated group. At he same time, I began to read book after book on apiculture, constantly amazed by the inner workings of honeybees. This intimate absorption into a single colony, combined with my studies, brought out a profound love for beekeeping and honeybees; one that has only grown stronger in all my years as an apiarist.
The one colony lead to another, and in the way that many new beekeepers get hooked, the apiary began to expand. At first, I could still call it a hobby, but very soon it was a second business. The garage began to disappear under my ever-growing inventory of equipment. Bee boxes, frames, pails, and uncapping supplies took over the car's space.
In spring and summer, I would be outside painting, constantly thinking about my bees, and come the down time of winter I would be in the cold of our garage diligently uncapping and extracting beautiful frames of honey. My wife, Addie, and our son, Evan, were always being brought on board to help with the budding industry I had created. Our workload grew, and we all put in many hard dedicated hours.
The painting jobs began to dwindle as our determination and efforts in the new business paid off. After four years we achieved the goal I had unwittingly set: our apiary had become a full-time business. Every November we informally celebrate this turning point, reflecting on not only on the loving hard labor we've put into this apiary, but also the joy we get from being deeply involved with such a beautiful and astounding creature as the honeybee.
We love what we do every day. Every moment in the bee yards, talking with local farmers, bottling, dipping candles, delivering honey, and so much more, is a unique and engaging time for us. I am lucky to have found and pursued my passion so completely. We are grateful to the honeybee and for all that it gives.
Early on, I chose the name of Boston Honey Company. The farm, conservation, and private lands my bees became established on are in the founding areas of Massachusetts, rich with history. Our name invokes the Massachusetts and New England hub, city of Boston, as a symbol of our state, our past, our culture, and our significance. Just as Boston has an appearance and nature that distinguishes it from any other city, so does our local honey.
Our honey is a loving, quality product derived from bees that we endlessly strive to provide with equal love and care. The bees gather nectar and produce honey on revolutionary battle sites, original settlements, and the continually flourishing towns of the greater Boston area. Our honey is a product of my family and the region we live in.
Today we remain committed to our bees and products. The three of us - my wife, my son and myself - and our employee, Nick, work our hundreds of colonies and handle the many responsibilities entailed. We work every colony with precision and a knowledgeable eye. Our organic and careful methods ensure no harmful practices or treatments interfere with the excellent quality of our honey or the health of our honeybees. The methodology we employ is one of respect and concern for our bees and our community. As we continue to grow and find new ways to offer the benefits of our focus and care we hope that you will enjoy every step with us. I especially hope you come to find that like us, you too are grateful to the honeybee and for all that it gives.
Bee well,
Andy
OUR PHILOSOPHY
The above slogan is the cornerstone of our beekeeping. First and foremost, our apiary is an act of appreciation for the honeybee. Not only would there be no Boston Honey Company without the triumph of the honeybee, but there are also easier ways to make a living than the often tricky and hard industry of apiculture. Our apiary is worked with care and passion for honeybees and all that they produce. Bees are fantastic creatures that have evolved to be crucial elements of nature and our food supply. The lives and functions of bees are extraordinary, giving us appreciative pause.
So before we can put care into our honey, candles, pollen, and skin care products, we have to put care into our bees. Our reverence and attention is in-line with the best of animal husbandry. Do not forget that as insects, bees are vital animals. They are not disposable due to number, or unimportant due to size! These attributes make them the powerful force that they are. We do not employ the use of harmful practices or treatments. Our organic methodology, sustainable actions, and intense focus on each individual colony, creates plenty of work; but work which we are glad to undertake.
As a family business and one so innately connected to the land, we are the epitome of 'local'. We take great pride in this fact, and take it very seriously. The crops our bees pollinate are the fruit and produce of your spring, summer, fall, and winter cellar. The foods of the local farms that you consume are tethered right to us, especially the savory honey we provide. We care about their quality, the quality of your health, and the satisfaction those services bring you.
Our honey is not just from the Boston region, but about it. In our honey, you taste the flowers, crops and landscapes of Massachusetts. These are the areas we all live and thrive in; they deserve respect and appreciation from all of us.
As much as we run a business, we pay homage to the land and everything on it. We support and strive to protect open space and flora in our state. There has been much habitat loss from population and development needs in our state, but we seek to see all new and remaining open space prosper and flourish. Our honey is pure, raw, high quality, and local. We do not deviate from this. We are truly grateful to the honeybee and for all that it gives!
OUR APIARY
Apiary (from the latin apiarium, apis meaning bee): a place where bees are kept; especially: a collection of hives or colonies of bees kept for their honey. - - Merriam Webster Dictionary.
Our apiary is spread across the farms of Concord, revolutionary battle fields of Lincoln, community centers in Weston, public park lands in Sudbury, horticultural plots in Wellesley, and many generous private sites from our home of Holliston to its neighbors and beyond. We are all over eastern Massachusetts. If you keep an eye out you are bound to see us at work. You are also bound to spot our bees at work in your orchards, farms, and backyard gardens.
We maintain several hundred colonies over dozens of eastern MA locations. Our locations are carefully picked for access, a wide abundance of flowers, sustainability, water, natural protection from wind and flooding, and stewardship. We provide adequate forage space for our honeybees, locating our colonies by the capacity an area has for them. Flowers and bees are not limitless in function, so we respect those limits. Our number of colonies is proportional to what we can handle and sustain. We grow as we can, not as a matter of fact.
Sustaining our bees is a matter of care, detail, and planning. To make ourselves a self-sustained apiary, we have to target our goal year round. We raise our own queens, utilize strong bee lineages, and maintain a distinction between our honey producing colony stock and our replenishing stock. These tactics remove us from the industry standard of replacing overwhelming bee loss with out-of-state bulk bee purchases; a common practice in Massachusetts.
We want to further the inherent prosperity of the honeybee, not quell it; so our beekeeping is of the highest skill and the gentlest practice. We see our apiary as a standard for the industry and for Massachusetts.
Boston Honey Company
229 Lowland St.
Holliston, MA 01746
508-429-6872
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