Product of the USA
From about the last week of October (after we harvest the Wildflower Autumn Honey) thru April some of our hives are trucked to The Delmarva Peninsula to winter over in a milder climate and to get an earlier start in the spring than they would in Upstate NY. Tulip Poplar and Black Locust trees bloom about the same time down there and this honey is derived form the nectar of their blossoms. Like buckwheat honey, it’s dark color is due to its high mineral content.
Although we specialize in Raw Tulip Poplar-Black Locust Honey we also offer it as what is called commercial, regular or liquid honey, which means it has been heated and filtered. However, heating honey (pasteurization) destroys the all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics.
"But if raw honey is so good for you, and heating it kills all the good stuff, why heat it?"
The reason is that the majority of Americans prefer the convenience of being able to spoon, pour or squeeze honey from a bottle onto their cereal or into their tea.
In addition, liquid or regular honey is clearer, easier to measure or spread than raw honey and many people think that honey that has crystallized is spoiled so they discard it. Honey that has been heated and filtered will not crystallize as fast as raw honey.
Therefore we also offer regular Tulip Poplar-Black Locust honey for those who prefer it.
Our raw Tulip Poplar-Black Locust honey is unheated, unpasteurized, unfiltered, unprocessed unblended and in the same condition as it was in the hive.
Tulip Poplar
The tulip poplar is a large deciduous tree also called “tulip tree” for its large flowers that somewhat resembles tulips; however it is closely related to magnolias rather than lilies, the plant family to which true tulips belong.
The tree is also called "yellow poplar" “canoe wood”, “saddle-leaf tree” or “white wood” and The Onondaga tribe call it Ko-yen-ta-ka-ah-tas (the white tree). The name “canoe wood” most likely refers to the tree's use for building dugout canoes by Eastern Native Americans.Black Locust
Black Locust flowers are pollinated by bees and hummingbirds and although it’s blooming period is short (about 1 to 2 weeks), it is a major honey plant in eastern USA.
Black Locust, (botanical name Robinia pseudoacacia), is a tree native to the southeastern United States that has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in the temperate zone of North America. It has an insistent growth pattern and extensive root system that discourages soil erosion.
Although it is similar in appearance to the honey locust, it does not have that tree's distinctive long branched spines on the trunk, instead having the pairs of short thorns at the base of each leaf and the leaflets are much broader.
Black Locust is one of the heaviest and hardest woods in North America, is resistant to rot and very durable. Due to its natural resistance to rotting, it is replacing treated lumber and tropical hardwoods in a wide variety of outdoor wood applications. It is not unusual for untreated Black Locust wood to last 50 years plus, without showing any significant signs of decay. This makes it the perfect alternative to chemically treated lumber and endangered tropical woods for outdoor wood uses like decks, fences and benches.
Black Locust is a favorite firewood because it has one of the highest BTUs of any other species that grows in the Eastern United States, burns slowly with very little visible flame or smoke and has the ability to burn even when wet. It is also planted for firewood because of its rapid growth, resilience in a variety of soils, and it grows back faster from its stump after being cut down by using the existing root system.