Gallagher Close Farm Honey
When we first invested in beekeeping 25 years ago, it wasn’t primarily to produce and sell honey. We consider it our responsibility as farmers to promote and care for bees, because without pollinators there would be little food. Pollinators world-wide have been challenged by inadequate chemical regulations for mono-class farming. Over time people have become more aware of the challenges to pollinators and because of public concern governments have taken proactive steps towards regulating harmful chemicals, though still not far enough. Our bees are still in danger.

In our early years of beekeeping, we were more bee-havers rather than beekeepers. Beekeeping is one of the most difficult animal endeavors a farmer can pursue, but one of the most rewarding. With help from the exceptional Worcester Beekeeping Association, we learned to maintain hives properly and keep our bees over the hard New England winters. One of the most important lessons we learned was to leave honey in the hive for the bees, rather than harvesting it all, so that they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Bees thrive better on their own honey than on sugar syrup, which is what most commercial beekeepers feed their bees.

Over the last few years, we have been fortunate to reap larger quantities of honey from our hives. We are in a valley between two of Vermont’s Green Mountains, which shelters our bees from larger mono-class farming and the chemicals that they use. Our vision is to continue to build our apiary with a Slovenian bee house, which will allow easier care and shelter for the bees. The honey that we produce and sell through our farm store is only a bi-product of a soul enriching venture.