Healthy Living Grocery Visits Singing Cedars Apiaries

top
Roland Smith with honey still in the comb at Singing Cedars Apiaries

On a sunny September day, Healthy Living Markey & Café visited Singing Cedars Apiaries in beautiful Orwell, Vermont. We met with apiarist Roland Smith to learn more about Singing Cedars and put a face to the name of one of our fantastic local honey vendors.

second
Roland with empty ‘Supers’ at Singing Cedars Apiaries

Roland Smith’s knowledge and passion for bees is inspiring! He came to beekeeping with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to work close to the land. Roland and his wife, children and grandchildren have been keeping bees since 1971—that’s 43 years of honey wisdom! Today, Singing Cedars manages over 1100 hives at neighboring farms and fields, producing Vermont-made honey that we carry at Healthy Living & Café all year round.

third
Singing Cedars hives at a neighboring farm

To get from comb to jar, Singing Cedars honey is spun out of the comb in a centrifuge extractor, then heated to a low temperature to facilitate pouring, and strained to remove any leftover pieces of comb and propolis. Singing Cedars honey is “raw”—unpasteurized and unfiltered, with beneficial enzymes and pollen still preserved in the honey.

fourth
Ready for labeling in the Singing Cedars packaging room

Singing Cedars also breeds their own queen bees each year and sells queens and nucleus colonies (the bees you buy to start your own hive) to other local producers and hobby beekeepers.

fifth
The Queen Bee of a Singing Cedars hive

You can find Singing Cedars Apiaries honey on the shelves at Healthy Living & Café in the Baking Aisle and in the Bulk Department. We carry prepackaged Singing Cedars Raw Honey in jars from 12 ounces up to 5 lbs in size, and Honey Crème in 16 oz jars. Beeswax from Singing Cedars Apiaries can also be found in our Bulk Department.

sixth
colorful hives at Singing Cedars Apiaries