Frequently Asked Questions About Our Alberta Made Products
The bees, our farm and all products are produced here in Parkland County, Alberta.
The bees collect nectar from hayfields, meadows, acreages and forests. Sweet clover and alfalfa provide a light and floral nectar, wildflowers yield a stronger flavour and darker colour. Also, our bees have been working on their honey recipe for many years, and now it's perfect, which is why our honey is the best!
HONEY:
We place what are called ‘honey supers’ or ‘honey boxes’ on top of the ‘brood chambers’ which is where the queen lays the eggs and the bees generally live. During the summer the bees collect nectar and by their magical talents they turn it into honey and store it in the honey super. We collect the honey supers when full, ‘tip’ them over in the field to let the bees evacuate, bring them to our honey house and then extract the honey with a centrifuge type honey extractor. The honey is then directly barreled to be packaged when needed. There is absolutely nothing added to the honey, and we never filter it either, so it keeps all its natural pollens, enzymes, nutrients and the best flavour!
CANDLES:
Our beeswax candles are all made by hand in small batches. Our beeswax tapers are made in the traditional method of hand-dipping. This is just what it sounds like. Wick is strung on a rack, and we manually dip the rack into a pot of melted beeswax to saturate the wick. After waiting a few minutes for the wax to cool, we do another quick dip into the pot, adding another thin layer of wax onto the wick. It takes about 30 dips to build enough wax onto the wick to make the taper about an inch wide. This method makes the very best tapers that are generally dripless, smokeless and have the classic tapered appearance. They are very time-consuming and labour intensive but are our favourite candles to do. Also good for building shoulder muscles as the racks get heavy by the end!
SOAP:
Our soap is also made in small batches using the cold process method. The recipe was developed, tweaked and perfected over several years by my mom using 5 kinds of oil, lye and honey. This recipe makes a beautiful, firm bar of soap with a frothy lather. We use a variety of pure essential oils and botanicals to infuse each batch with divine smells and properties.
Click 'Shop' on the menu above, or visit us at various markets around Edmonton. We are at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market every Saturday, and the St. Albert Farmers’ Market seasonally. You can also find Meadow-Sweet Apiaries at pop-ups and specialty markets throughout the year. Follow our social media to stay in the loop!
We offer refunds only on damaged or defective products. Please contact us via the contact form on our website under "Contact Us" for more information.
