OUR HONEY
THE TERROIR
Pine Ridge Apiaries is a family-run business located in an isolated valley of the Pine Ridge region on the Anderson family ranch. This is a solitary area full of wildlife that remains relatively untouched by man to this day.
The Pine Ridge ecosystem spans across southwest South Dakota, northwest Nebraska and into eastern Wyoming and is made up of bio diverse native prairies and forests where floral sources for pollinators are abundant and varied. Given the lack of residential and agricultural development in this region, the honeybees are offered a safe haven free from farm pesticides and full of nutritional benefits.
The Anderson prairie is home to over 25 native and naturalized plant species from which the bees forage for nectar and pollen. Some of the wildflowers we see the honeybees gravitate toward are dandelions, sweet clover, goldenrod, vetch, thistles, sunflowers, echinacea, purple prairie clover, bee balm, wild bergamot, and Oregon grape. Local tree and shrub sources they utilize include hackberry, apple, wild plum, chokecherry, American elm, and buckbrush.
Terroir is a word derived from terre, or "land" in French, and can be interpreted as the characteristic taste and flavor imparted to an artisanal food product by the environment in which it is produced.
If variety is the spice of life, then these bees have plenty of it. The wide selection of native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees that Mother Nature provides and the unique mix of soils, plants, water, and climate in this natural setting supply all the flavoring our honey needs.
These rare characteristics of the Pine Ridge terroir yield an exquisitely tasting honey with a range of floral notes that is smooth, low in moisture and very mild.
100 % NATURAL, RAW & UNFILTERED
Our honey’s special taste can also be attributed to the highest quality standards we uphold in the harvesting and bottling process. Hand-crafted, 100% raw and unprocessed, our honey is purely natural. It is extracted from the hives, passed through a sieve, and put into jars with little to no transition from its original state inside the hive. There is never any commercial filtering, excessive heating or flavor additives. This minimal processing preserves the phytonutrients found in raw honey that offer a multitude of health benefits like antioxidant properties and prebiotics, as well as antibacterial and antifungal power.
We harvest only the excess beyond what our hives need to survive. Every bottle of honey is labeled with a number that identifies from which apiary it was harvested. We have found that each apiary produces a slightly different tasting honey due to the predominant pollen and nectar sources in that particular location.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
All of our apiaries possess the Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) certification. CNG is an organization whose standards are based on the highest ideals of the organic movement - working in harmony with nature without relying on synthetic chemicals or GMOs.
We follow CNG's beekeeping practices that support honeybee health, steering away from harmful chemical treatments and toward natural practices that result in thriving colonies and happy bees. Our bees' health, not productivity, is the priority.
Pine Ridge Apiaries promise:
- NO GMO crops or pesticides used near our hives
- NO feeding of high fructose corn syrup
- NO commercial transporting of beehives
- NO use of synthetic chemicals for treating bee health
We also take holistic approach to land management in order to maintain healthy landscapes for the entire ecosystem.
CREAMED HONEY
All honey will crystallize over time, unless it is highly filtered and heated like most mass-produced honeys. While safe to consume, crystallized honey is harder to use and lacks the ideal texture for some users. Creaming honey is a natural process wherein we facilitate crystallization with a small-sized crystal, ensuring a desirable consistency while retaining all the benefits of raw honey. Creaming also insures against further crystallization.
