Kroeger & Rixen Farm - Honey
by Cora and Madison
The Schoolcraft First Graders want to help the Kroeger & Rixen Farm sell more honey. We want people to buy local food. We emailed the Kroeger & Rixen Farm a list of questions. Below you will find the answers.
The Schoolcraft First Graders want to help the Kroeger & Rixen Farm sell more honey. We want people to buy local food. We emailed the Kroeger & Rixen Farm a list of questions. Below you will find the answers.
Do you have a website?
We do not have an individual business website, but are listed on our farmers' market website: www.naturalchoicemarket.org
How much honey do you want to sell?
We have 900 pounds of honey yet to sell. We usually sell out of honey every August before we extract the summer's honey. We sell all our honey locally, from home or from Bemidji's Natural Choice Farmers Market in the Union Square parking lot in Bemidji---Saturdays 8:30a-3p.
Do you have different kinds of honey?
Our honey is a wildflower mix, the early honey being made of basswood nectar (when we get a bloom--we don't always) and clover nectar for the most part. We can't specify exactly what variety of honey each jar is, but we usually can tell what it's made from by color, timing, and taste. This year we had a later honey that was very yellow, and we think that was goldenrod. Later honey is usually a nice mix of wildflowers, and I think that's the tastiest. If you walked around our farm, you would find honeybees working on many different blossoms. Sometimes when I pick our fall raspberries, I am surrounded by every kind of bee and hornet (honeybees, yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets, bumblebees of several kinds, and sometimes butterflies)--they are all working on the raspberry blossoms. I have only been stung once, by a yellowjacket that mistakenly crawled up my sleeve. They are busy, so if you move slowly, no problem.
How much does the honey cost?
Our honey is priced between $4.00 and $4.25 per pound for bulk orders (you bring us your jar). We sell bottled honey, too, and the cost of the jars is added.
When is your honey available? What seasons?
We extract when the bees have enough capped in the honey supers. When the bees cap their honey with wax, they have decided it is "ripe" and it is of the right water content to "keep". We go by their ways, because they know better than we do. Enough honey is usually ready in September for us to extract in our motorized extractor (works by centrifugal force). We then filter it through cloth that is just like a sheer curtain, so the wax is filtered out. Honey needs to be warm to "flow" well, so extracting is a very hot job.
Where is your honey business?
We have a small farm 18 miles north of Bemidji on Irvine (#15). 26377 is the number. We like people to call ahead if they are coming to our farm for honey so I have just what they want ready when they come.
How do you want people to contact you? Your phone number, address or email?
Our number is 218-243-3330 (please use the answering machine). We check e-mail every day at [email protected].
We do not have an individual business website, but are listed on our farmers' market website: www.naturalchoicemarket.org
How much honey do you want to sell?
We have 900 pounds of honey yet to sell. We usually sell out of honey every August before we extract the summer's honey. We sell all our honey locally, from home or from Bemidji's Natural Choice Farmers Market in the Union Square parking lot in Bemidji---Saturdays 8:30a-3p.
Do you have different kinds of honey?
Our honey is a wildflower mix, the early honey being made of basswood nectar (when we get a bloom--we don't always) and clover nectar for the most part. We can't specify exactly what variety of honey each jar is, but we usually can tell what it's made from by color, timing, and taste. This year we had a later honey that was very yellow, and we think that was goldenrod. Later honey is usually a nice mix of wildflowers, and I think that's the tastiest. If you walked around our farm, you would find honeybees working on many different blossoms. Sometimes when I pick our fall raspberries, I am surrounded by every kind of bee and hornet (honeybees, yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets, bumblebees of several kinds, and sometimes butterflies)--they are all working on the raspberry blossoms. I have only been stung once, by a yellowjacket that mistakenly crawled up my sleeve. They are busy, so if you move slowly, no problem.
How much does the honey cost?
Our honey is priced between $4.00 and $4.25 per pound for bulk orders (you bring us your jar). We sell bottled honey, too, and the cost of the jars is added.
When is your honey available? What seasons?
We extract when the bees have enough capped in the honey supers. When the bees cap their honey with wax, they have decided it is "ripe" and it is of the right water content to "keep". We go by their ways, because they know better than we do. Enough honey is usually ready in September for us to extract in our motorized extractor (works by centrifugal force). We then filter it through cloth that is just like a sheer curtain, so the wax is filtered out. Honey needs to be warm to "flow" well, so extracting is a very hot job.
Where is your honey business?
We have a small farm 18 miles north of Bemidji on Irvine (#15). 26377 is the number. We like people to call ahead if they are coming to our farm for honey so I have just what they want ready when they come.
How do you want people to contact you? Your phone number, address or email?
Our number is 218-243-3330 (please use the answering machine). We check e-mail every day at [email protected].