#HoneyBound

[joyandella-123]

The Best Unknown Mead of New England: HoneyBound Meadery's Award-Winning Creations

In the heart of New England, a hidden gem is gaining recognition and accolades among aficionados of mead, a beverage with a rich history that dates back thousands of years. HoneyBound Meadery, a name you might not have heard of yet, has been crafting exceptional meads since 2020, and their creations have been turning heads and earning prestigious awards on both local and international stages.

A Medley of Excellence: HoneyBound Meadery's Impressive Accolades

HoneyBound Meadery takes pride in its dedication to crafting distinct mead varieties that stand out in both flavor and quality. Their commitment to excellence has not gone unnoticed, as evidenced by the remarkable collection of awards they've garnered since their inception.

Since 2020, HoneyBound Meadery's meads have collectively earned a staggering total of twenty medals from various competitions. These accolades span across Local, National, and International contests, cementing their reputation as a rising star in the world of mead-making.

The Crown Jewel: Red Bamboo Mead

One standout from HoneyBound Meadery's impressive portfolio is the Red Bamboo mead. This exquisite creation has achieved the remarkable feat of securing four Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at the prestigious Mazer Cup International, one of the most esteemed competitions in the mead industry. Such recognition is a testament to the exceptional craftsmanship that goes into every bottle of Red Bamboo.

But the journey doesn't end there for Red Bamboo. At the 2023 edition of The Big E Fair in Springfield, Massachusetts, this mead earned the coveted title of "Best Mead in Massachusetts." This accolade further solidifies its status as a hidden treasure of New England's mead scene.

Knot Your Average Plum: A Gold-Silver Marvel

Another jewel in the crown of HoneyBound Meadery is their Knot Your Average Plum mead. This delightful concoction has notched both Gold and Silver recognitions at the esteemed Mazer Cup International competition. Its harmonious blend of flavors and quality craftsmanship make it a must-try for any mead enthusiast.

An Array of Award-Winning Meads

HoneyBound Meadery's commitment to excellence doesn't stop at Red Bamboo and Knot Your Average Plum. They proudly offer a range of other medal-winning meads, each with its own unique character and flavor profile. These include Cyser, Honey and Spice, Blueberry X2, and Rip Currant, all crafted with the same dedication to quality and innovation.

Explore Excellence: Discover HoneyBound Meadery's Meads

Now is the perfect time to discover the exceptional craftsmanship and award-winning flavors of HoneyBound Meadery's meads. Their dedication to quality and innovation in mead-making shines through in every sip. Explore their product category to embark on a journey of flavor and tradition, with each bottle of mead reflecting their unwavering commitment to excellence.

As the best unknown mead of New England, HoneyBound Meadery is destined to become a cherished name among mead enthusiasts. Experience the taste of excellence and be part of their remarkable journey in redefining the world of mead, one award-winning bottle at a time. Cheers to the hidden treasures of New England!

 Honeybound Meadery invites you to come try our award winning Meads. Try our mead chilled, warmed or room temperature. Enjoy our mead as a standalone or create your favorite drink recipe (which will be required to be shared with us). Take the Honeybound adventure to make our own history!

[heysheepdog]

I mean I can't speak for everyone but know we don't???

1. I don't know anyone who clips bee wings, because that is so stupid. You. You so realize that domestic bees are supposed to have access to flowers, right? And you do realize that hives are comprised of hundreds if not thousands of bees (depending on the space given). I am not even reading your source because that was just too stupid. I'm not even an expert on this, and I know that's fucking dumb.

2. Nobody is destroying new queen cells??? Bees run their own colonies and when it comes to queen cells, it is the queen that hatches first that destroys the other cells.

3. I mean at most there are times when the queen is culled, but that's because her demeanor impacts the rest of the hive's demeanor so mean queen = mean hive = people getting hurt. Even then, this is a very rare occurrence considering the mean hives tend to live a long time and we don't want to harm long lasting hives.

4. ???? There are no pheromones to prevent bees from doing what they like. At the apiary I work at we deal with the occasional swarm, both of our own bees who've been honeybound (run out of room to store resources ans split to other places) and random ones in the community we help remove ethically.

5. Again, we can't control everything they do. Bees don't mate with hives that are close to their own, so really, if they're compatible and it isn't incest? They'll mate.

6. Not an expert, so I can't really speak on artificial insemination. I don't think this is common practice- there are plenty of keepers who find swarms in their area and hive 'em. Queens also will only go through one go of mating because they get all the sperm they need for life that way (lots of bee sex in one day, good for her). This is how they decide the sex of their brood. If a drone is needed, some of the stored sperm will fertilize the cell. That isn't exactly related to anything, but it is pretty interesting. Might as well provide something true to combat that mess.

7. We don't?? We try our best to ensure bees are prepped for winter. There's a whole process of 'overwintering' keepers do try to make sure that the hive has resources.

8. Bees feel pain, lots of living things do, this point makes no sense.

9. This is true, but many keepers try to ensure their hives are healthy and treated for pests like varroa mites, hive beetles, and wax moths. There are fatal ways to test for mites, but some keepers use a sugar roll method that involves a little jostling, but the bees aren't harmed so much as confused. It's like a tilt-a-whirl for bees.

Many honeybees are invasive and compete with native bees, but there are lots of plants that need pollinating and as long as people are maintaining their own hives there should not be need for robbing or bothering other hives for resources. I dunno tbh, I can only really speak for the place where I work, and we are aware of the wild species in our area and don't get too crazy with how many hives we keep? I don't know much about wild bees, so don't take anything I say as gospel

Wild that folks keep saying beekeepers abuse bees as if bees are not both venomous flying animals and fully unionized

[ofcowardiceandkings]

id probably make a different blog to do it if i did but oh boy id love to do a series of info posts brought to you by your local bumpkin and farming-evolution expert about why certain things are NOT EVIL

[beek-of-the-finch-blog]

It’s honey time! I loaned my extractor to my buddy Joe and we got a ton of honey from his hive’s spare honey super, plus 8 frames from one of the deeps - they were totally honeybound, so we pulled some honey to give them some space, and froze a couple more full-capped frames out of the deeps just in case they don’t store enough honey for the winter this autumn. They still have a full deep of honey, too!!

He’s pretty psyched about the haul... getting me excited for doing my own honey harvest at the start of July!!

[foxthebeekeeper]

Another successful beemoval! Only under one long soffit space along the corner of the house. One panel of plywood cut to reveal them. Not much honey at all, but a LOT of nectar mixed in to the brood. No eggs, but lots and lots of capped brood, and four or five queen cells. It looks like the hive was honeybound so the queen swarmed out. About equal portions drone and worker cells and LOTS of active drones. It was crazy

[fuzzybuttbees]

Quick inspection today! What looks like a spotty brood pattern is actually our poor ladies being honeybound! They’ve already brought in so much honey this season that they’re out of space to lay eggs. Luckily, we had a super with some comb already to go, so we tossed that on to give them space. They should be right as rain soon! We also spotted some empty queen cells during this inspection. We’ll have to keep a close eye on the hive to make sure our ladies don’t swarm or replace the queen!

[joyandella-123]

Award Winning Mead in New England

Mead, an alcoholic drink crafted by fermenting a mixture of honey and water using yeast, boasts a long and storied history that stretches back to ancient civilizations. It is often regarded as the precursor to all other alcoholic beverages and held a special place in the hearts of various cultures. In ancient times, it was believed that partaking in mead would bestow upon individuals qualities such as health, virility, wisdom, immortality, and wit. Additionally, the tradition of giving a newlywed couple a supply of mead equivalent to one full moon's duration, known as the "Honeymoon," aimed to bless their marriage with good fortune.

In contemporary times, there exists a widespread interest in sourcing beverages from small, local brewers who utilize fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. Our approach to crafting mead aligns with this ethos. As dedicated beekeepers, Honeybound Meadery have the privilege of accessing exceptionally unique and captivating honey varieties, which imbue our meads with distinctive flavors and characteristics. Honeybound Meadery’s meticulous process involves the thoughtful selection of the most captivating honey, skillfully paired with complementary yeast strains. They then create an optimal fermentation environment, utilizing precise temperature control and modern techniques, resulting in a mead that promises enjoyment for all.

Starting in the year 2020, HoneyBound Meadery has taken great pride in the creation of ten unique mead varieties, amassing an impressive total of twenty medals from a diverse range of Local, National, and International competitions. One particularly notable achievement is our Red Bamboo mead, which has secured an impressive collection of 4 Gold Medals and a Silver Medal at the prestigious Mazer Cup International. Adding to the excitement, Red Bamboo was recently bestowed with the coveted title of "Best Mead in Massachusetts" at the 2023 edition of The Big E Fair in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Among the standout selections in Honeybound Meadery’s lineup, Knot your Average Plum has also garnered both Gold and Silver accolades at Mazer Cup International. Their unwavering commitment to achieving excellence extends to our other award-winning meads, which include Cyser, Honey and Spice, Blueberry X2, and Rip Currant.

Meads can be fermented with fruits, cider, and spices to name just a few options. The combinations are endless. Satisfying your palate is Honeybound Meadery’s goal. Honeybound Meadery invites you to come try their award winning Meads. Try their mead chilled, warmed or room temperature. Enjoy Honeybound Meadery’s mead as a standalone or create your favorite drink recipe (which will be required to be shared with us). Take the Honeybound adventure to make our own history!

[systlin]

This is gonna sound stupid, but when I was a child my gran told me the reason people take honey from a beehive is because when there's too much honey the bees leave. That it's sweet to attract bears and people. I'm 33 now and wanna know if this is, in fact, true. LOL

No, that’s not true LOL. 

But if a hive becomes honeybound it often is a target for predators because there aren’t enough bees to defend it. 

[cripplepunk-sylveon]

Also if that honey doesn't get moved out at an ideal pace, human intervention or no, it can actually lead to those undesirable conditions- the hive is considered "honeybound" and without intervention the bees WILL flee the hive to avoid being smothered by the contents of their overflowing pantry.

So yes, you should eat honey.

“don’t eat honey because it exploits the bees and they can’t consent!!!” bees are literally unionized and will walk out if they don’t like being in the beekeeper’s hives

[rove-bogge]

For once though, Rove wouldn't be too hard to find. The local insect's made his current location quite easy to find. Sat down leaning against one of the few apiaries that was tucked to a side.

A few bees hovering around as well as some of the many butterflies now gathered around him, almost leading Kalen to the shorter boy as he sniffled away to himself. Rubbing his nose with his sleeve trying to calm himself.

He shied away slightly when Kalen came over before sighing, falling back against the Hive he was resting against for a moment. Mulling over what to say.

"Look...Kalen....what i said..." He stopped before the apology, pride stopping him from saying sorry. "Don't listen to what I say...." Was the only way he could manage it.

Tense silence filled the space around them as Rove plucked blades of grass to try and disperse the nervous energy eating away at him. "I....Did you know I designed these hives." He said just letting his mind talk about bugs. Bugs were easy. "The plants here are magical so they produced far more honey then they could handle causing the hives to become honeybound and killed them...I physically couldn't handle coming out her as often to collect the extra honey so in the end I grabbed some of my fellow housemates and we made these hives....they automatically run the excess honey out into waiting jars without harming the bees inside. It also means I rarely have to open the hives up and disturb them...." He fiddled with some of the grass blades in his fingers.

"I...guess if you want to help yourself to a jar ....you can..."

By the seven someone shoot him...he's on this weird arranged forced date with Kalen and he's talking about literal bees....

Face red he growled slightly to himself. "Look, you're not an idiot all the time...just some of the time! I can stand you...sometimes...most the time... just you get all handsy with me and say stupid lies like that i'm cute and it throws me off!" He snapped glowering at Kalen red faced. "This is not some romance game! If it was, I'm the unlikable npc not the romance option!" His face was burning at this point causing him to duck back behind the apiary to cover his steaming face.

continued from here.

@rove-bogge

KALEN, DUMBFOUNDED, FLINCHED at Rove's humiliated outburst, remaining silent and confused throughout all the yelling. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what he did wrong! Did Rove... just not like icecream? He wondered before icecream was sent flying his way, Rove storming off. No, that's definitively not it. He concluded. Maybe he's upset because I...?

Fed him?

Now was the moment for Kalen to finally remember how shy Rove could be — yes, all of their interactions consisted of things that would seem to contradict that statement (see: Rove yelling at Kalen comp.), but that was because of the close bond the two shared. He was the one to chip away at the Ignihyde's walls, get the chance to be his friend, and in one stupid move, build those walls back up again.

He grabs a napkin and a waterbottle, setting off to the gardens in search of Rove, picnic loglng forgotten. If Rove wanted to hide, he could very easily make himself vanish. The poor guy was so small to Kalen, that even on a good day he had trouble picking him out from a crowd.

Upon entering, a few bumblebees fly over to Kalen, drawn to his bright, colorful clothing. They flew around him with such grace, a stark contrast to how the big lug carried himself. It was so pretty! But Kalen had no time to gawk at nature's beauty! He sets off near the beehives, knowing that if there were bugs, Rove would be near.

" Rove? " He calls out, purposely keeping a distance between them, in case Rove didn't want to be seen just yet. " Aw man, i'm so sorry if I did anythin' that made you uncomfortable! It's just that... i'm not really good at this whole... friendship thing? Just, ugh, i'm not the best speaker too, and... not too good at jus' about everythin' else... "

[hapalopus]

Did you know that not every place is the US and that Apis mellifera is native to a lot of countries? Even then, non-native ≠ harmful and a lot of non-native species are beneficial to their eco-system. You could even argue that honeybees aren't foreign to North America, considering Apis nearctica has only been extinct for roughly 12 million years, a blink of an eye in Earth's history. You can't just appeal to nature and call it a day, you have to analyze the situation in-depth.

The negative effects of European honeybees on native American honeybees is vastly overplayed (likely because most of the studies suffered a small sample size or interpreted any negative interaction between the species as evidence of competition). Studies that have focused on population size/density over a period of time have found little to no correlation between the long-term survival of A. mellifera and native species.

Domestic honeybees are the only bees able to keep up with our crop production. To pollinate things like rapeseed, citrus fruits, cotton, and almond, bees are moved around in stackable hives (without their consent, mind you, since that's something animal rights activists seem to care a lot about). Next to no one keeps bees solely for their honey. Honey is just a by-product from the pollination of 'vegan' foods. Buying honey does nothing to either harm or contribute to the 'enslavement' of bees.

To keep domestic honeybees from getting honeybound and swarming (something only about 16% of feral swarms survive), you have to split the hives and take the excess honey.

Vegans of tumblr, listen up. Harvesting agave in the quantities required so you dont have to eat honey is killing mexican long-nosed bats. They feed off the nectar and pollinate the plants. They need the agave. You want to help the environment? Go back to honey. Your liver and thyroid will thank you, as well. Agave is 90% fructose, which can cause a host of issues. Bye.