Honey Farm Finds Gold With Mead
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Kon Paseschnikoff didn’t plan to make mead when he started raising bees in 2004. He was honoring his father, who had raised bees in the 70’s and thought beehives would be a good addition to their market garden operation. But as Paseschnikoff, his wife Julie, and their children grew the operation to 200 hives and started Bee Boyzz Honey, they developed a line of value-added honey products.
Besides creamed honey, Julie created 18 sweet and savory flavored honey blends, from Jalapeno honey to coconut honey to espresso coffee honey that customers use to sweeten their coffee. In late 2018, Paseschnikoff was searching the Internet for new product ideas when he learned about mead, an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey.
Eager to try something new, the Paseschnikoffs traveled to UC Davis in California for a weekend mead-making course. In the process, they learned that their honey is quite unique, made mostly from bees pollinating canola blossoms in Manitoba.
“It’s almost white like snow,” Paseschnikoff says, which attracts customers in the U.S. as well as Canada.
He started small with 100-liter batches and sourced local fruits such as strawberries and rhubarb to make different flavored meads. Working with a mead maker, soon they were making 1,000-liter batches and selling in Manitoba liquor stores.
Early sales were good, and they even made carbonated versions of mead with reduced alcohol (5 percent instead of 12 percent) that could be canned.
“Education is the biggest thing with mead,” Paseschnikoff says. The couple started attending heritage and reenactment events where mead is well known. They invited guests to their Oak Bluff, Man., farm to taste their honey products and learn about bees and the 9 to 12-month process of making mead.
They also started experimenting and working with a culinary school to create honey iced tea.
What started as a hobby with a few hives has become a sideline business that continues to grow as they develop new products from their honey. Available items can be found on their website.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bee Boyzz Meadery, 4742 McGillivray Blvd., Oak Bluff, Manitoba, Canada R4G 0B7 (ph 204-791-7940; beeboyzzmeadery@gmail.com; www.beeboyzz.com).
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Honey Farm Finds Gold With Mead SPECIALTY/SERVICES Kon Paseschnikoff didn’t plan to make mead when he started raising bees in 2004 He was honoring his father who had raised bees in the 70’s and thought beehives would be a good addition to their market garden operation But as Paseschnikoff his wife Julie and their children grew the operation to 200 hives and started Bee Boyzz Honey they developed a line of value-added honey products Besides creamed honey Julie created 18 sweet and savory flavored honey blends from Jalapeno honey to coconut honey to espresso coffee honey that customers use to sweeten their coffee In late 2018 Paseschnikoff was searching the Internet for new product ideas when he learned about mead an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey Eager to try something new the Paseschnikoffs traveled to UC Davis in California for a weekend mead-making course In the process they learned that their honey is quite unique made mostly from bees pollinating canola blossoms in Manitoba “It’s almost white like snow ” Paseschnikoff says which attracts customers in the U S as well as Canada He started small with 100-liter batches and sourced local fruits such as strawberries and rhubarb to make different flavored meads Working with a mead maker soon they were making 1 000-liter batches and selling in Manitoba liquor stores Early sales were good and they even made carbonated versions of mead with reduced alcohol 5 percent instead of 12 percent that could be canned “Education is the biggest thing with mead ” Paseschnikoff says The couple started attending heritage and reenactment events where mead is well known They invited guests to their Oak Bluff Man farm to taste their honey products and learn about bees and the 9 to 12-month process of making mead They also started experimenting and working with a culinary school to create honey iced tea What started as a hobby with a few hives has become a sideline business that continues to grow as they develop new products from their honey Available items can be found on their website Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Bee Boyzz Meadery 4742 McGillivray Blvd Oak Bluff Manitoba Canada R4G 0B7 ph 204-791-7940; beeboyzzmeadery@gmail com; www beeboyzz com
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