Mad River Honey wins big at The Royal
When it comes to bottling the sweet stuff nature has to offer, friends Sue Clarry and Brian Thomson have proven they can make the grade.
Mad River Honey has won first place at The Royal Winter Fair in the golden liquid honey category, competing against 16 entries from across Ontario.
“It was a big surprise and a huge honour for sure,” said Clarry.
They were also pleased to see their maple syrup, labelled Mad River Maple, place 12th in the dark/robust category against 31 entries.
The partnership evolved out of a sharing of expertise with Clarry learning about maple syrup production from Thomson, and her sharing her knowledge about beekeeping.
“We have a lot of fun doing it,” said Clarry. “It’s still a hobby and sometimes a lot of work.”
Having had success at the Feversham Fall Fair over the years, Clarry and Thomson began entering their products in The Royal, the world’s largest indoor agricultural fair held in Toronto Nov. 1-10. They have entered their honey for the past four years – after a 2020first place win for their maple syrup – placing between eighth and eleventh putting them in the middle of the pack. This year’s honey earned them a judging score of 99.5 out of 100.
Entries follow strict criteria for presentation and packaging, flavour, uniformity, brightness, density, colour and freedom from air bubbles, crystals, and froth.
Clarry said a lot of attention is paid to filtering and removing any foam and even the smallest bubbles.
Clarry has been keeping bees on and off for about 35 years since being introduced to them while working in outdoor education. She then took some courses and set up a couple of hives at her home. Years later she and Thomson set up one hive and gradually built up to 10, which Clarry said is a manageable number for amateur beekeepers.
She said she has remained fascinated by the bees, always observing and learning about their behaviour.
“I find it very relaxing in a way,” said Clarry. “You have to move very slowly when you are working with honeybees.”
She said although it is a lot of work to care for the hives it is slow and methodical, a contrast to the hustle and bustle of daily life.
At this time of year, the hives are being prepared for winter. There is constant monitoring required to make sure the hive is healthy and treatments are required to protect the population from pests. Because they are removing honey for commercial use, they also have to feed the bees sugar water to make sure they have enough sustenance to get them through the winter.
The amount of honey produced in a year is completely dependent on the health and strength of the hive, and the weather. Clarry said with a yield of 400 kg of honey, this was their best year yet. “A summer that is sunny, somewhat dry but no drought, and a regular nice flower bloom all the way through, they’ll bring in a lot of honey,” said Clarry, adding that the fair-weather insects don’t fly in the rain or in the dark, preferring to hunker down in the hive.
Torrential rains and humid conditions early in the summer meant that there was little to extract but August and September resulted in ideal conditions and the yields increased.
The colour of the honey is completely dependent on the type of flowers that the bees are harvesting from within a five-mile radius of the hives. In Singhampton, the bees are collecting nectar from the crops in the area as well as whatever wildflowers are in season. Each flower produces a different flavour of honey, which ends up getting blended together, so every batch is different.
When it comes to extracting the honey, Clarry and Thomson say they gather a group of friends and family to help with uncapping the wax on the honey comb, spinning, filtering and bottling the product.
Their honey and syrup are not available commercially but does get distributed through a network of friends and family.
