Wild Bee Honey Farm

Local Raw Honey, Straight from the Beekeeper

Wild Bee Honey Farm was founded in 1966 by Morris Curtis and is now run by a second generation of beekeepers – Morris’ son Mike and his wife Angelika. Morris says he began the business back in the mid-60s when the hippie migration up to the mountains created a demand for raw honey. Back then he caught a swarm to begin a new hive, and now more than 40 years later the farm maintains roughly 500-600 colonies depending on the season.

When possible, Mike and Angelika attempt to provide many different varieties of honey by maintaining separation between the types of indigenous blooming plants that the bees collect from. Some favorites resulting from this approach are: “Oregon Blackberry,” “Clover,” and “Oregon Meadowfoam.”

Honey isn’t the only thing the bees and their keepers at Wild Bee Honey Farm provide us with at the Co-op. They have an incredible array of designs of 100% pure beeswax candles. Each candle is poured by hand, “with love,” Angelika says. It doesn’t even stop there. The Curtis’ also operate a small, organic farm on seven acres where they grow strawberries, among other crops, that they offer to the Rogue valley.

Mike and Angelika have a son named Daniel, and a daughter named Rachel who will have the option to become third generation beekeepers. Stay tuned…

How Raw Honey Is Extracted:

Truly raw honey has numerous health benefits. It is antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal, and antibacterial. In order to keep the honey in its raw state at Wild Bee Honey Farm, they don’t heat it in the extraction process above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead they extract the honey by removing “frames” out of the hive, slicing off the “caps,” and putting the frames into a machine that spins them, whisking the honey from the comb.