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Suzanne Thompson and Tom Hegan, alias Norbuck Honey Farm, have been full time beekeepers for 23 years in the Winfield area of Central Alberta. They are well known in the honey producing community for promotion of small scale, efficient operations. They have been twice in Central America assisting beekeeping projects of CARE International.
Their focus at home, with their daughter Katie, is ultra high purity clover honey for export to Europe and Japan. Winfield’s peculiar microclimate grows only one crop well and that is clover, great wonderful fields of the stuff! Pesticide use is non-existent. As a result of the family’s policy of forest conservation, the bees have an excellent supply of tree pollens and wild flowers to get them at peak performance for the July flow of clover nectar. Just prior to this bloom, Tom and Suzanne strip all dandelion and wildflower honey from the colonies in order to keep the clover honey absolutely separate. The honey itself is extracted and packed without any heat or filtration. “I believe we are the only beekeepers silly enough to go to all this bother, but we are pretty proud of the final result.”
The honey is naturally creamed and in this form maintains all the most delicate subtleties. It can be easily made liquid in a warm water bath or microwave. However, when heat is applied, there is always some sacrifice of the unique character that separates this honey from anything ‘off the shelf’”.
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