Bright Eyes Honey is our own raw honey label – from Our Bright Acres.

Some facts about Bright Eyes Honey:

Raw – Bright Eyes Honey is raw honey. That means it is not pasteurized or specially heated to the extent that many of the nutrients, enzymes and natural vitamins are removed.  Commercially available honey is often pasteurized to kill any potential bacteria and to keep the honey from crystallizing. For Bright Eyes Honey, the only heating done is the use of space heaters in a “heating tent” for the boxes of frames before they are extracted and the hot knife used in uncapping the frames. Warming the frames (in the 90 – 110F degree range) over a day or two period prior to extraction helps the honey spin out of the frames more efficiently and bottle easier. The honey is run through multiple filters to remove many of the wax particulates – the smallest is a 400 micron filter. Raw honey is sought after for its superior flavor and potential health benefits.

Locally-sourced – We do not buy honey from other bee keepers or distributors. All of our honey comes from our own bee yards in our target area of SE Minnesota and NE Iowa. That means the floral sources and pollen is local. Naturally occurring pollen in raw honey is reputed by some sources to provide additional health benefits to those who may suffer from seasonal allergies due to local air-born pollen.

Multi-sourced – We are a small enough operation that we are not able to provide single-sourced honey (that is honey from a single floral source like clover or buckwheat). That requires small-batch harvesting and processing, and other location/timing items that we are not set up for. Instead, our honey is harvested and processed once a year so it comes from multiple floral sources. However, one of the main nectar flows we have is from basswood/linden trees. Basswood honey is considered a “premium” honey for its rich flavors and aromas. It is not the sweetest of honeys if you were to compare with with some other floral sources. Instead, it is often considered distinctive (a signature flavor) in the beekeeping community. All we know is that we have a great blend! And every jar can be different. We don’t extract the honey into a huge holding tank. Instead, it is bottled straight from food-grade pails filled right from the extractor through a set of pail filters. This means that as each box (honey super) is extracted from, you can get different flavors because the bees naturally collect from different sources at different times in the summer.

Location – Bright Eyes Honey is sourced from three small apiaries (bee yards) in SE Minnesota and NE Iowa.

Ownership – Our business is family owned.

Beliefs/Values

• We believe God has providentially and wonderfully engineered the natural systems that we take for granted every day, including the colony system of honey bees, and he has situated these colony organisms in the world to be a blessing to humans and the environment at large. These creatures enable a shared-living avenue for us to partner with them and be a blessing to others.
• We believe in promoting bee health and responsible bee keeping practices. We try to keep current on the literature surrounding beekeeping and provide the best care we can for our colonies – ranging from mite treatments to overwintering.
• We believe that both keeping the bees and working the business is an educational experience for us and our children.
• We believe in adhering to complete integrity in all our dealings and prayerful consideration of each decision.