Wissinger Farm & Old Mill Apiary

06/15/2026

🌿🐝 The mountain mint is putting on a show!

One of my favorite things about planting for pollinators is seeing who shows up. Today, the mountain mint was absolutely buzzing with activity—not just honey bees, but native bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and other beneficial insects all sharing the same patch of blooms.

Mountain mint is one of the hardest-working plants in the pollinator garden. Its nectar-rich flowers attract an incredible diversity of insects, making it a valuable food source throughout the summer. While honey bees often get the spotlight, many of our native pollinators are just as important for healthy ecosystems, gardens, and farms.

Watching all these different species gather on the same plant is a reminder that when we plant for pollinators, we’re supporting an entire community—not just one insect.

What’s visiting your flowers today? 🐝🦋🌿

06/11/2026

Social Media: Golden honey, blooming flowers, happy bees. ✨🍯🐝

Reality:

✔ Bee stings
✔ Mosquito bites
✔ Mystery bruises
✔ Dirt under my nails
✔ A farmers tan with questionable geography
✔ Hair that appears to have lost a fight with a leaf blower
✔ Smells faintly of honey and hard work

Living the dream, apparently.

Field Guide Note:
A beekeeper can often be identified by a farmers tan with questionable geography, hair resembling an abandoned bird nest, and the faint scent of honey and hard work.

Approach with sweet tea and curiosity. Proceed with caution if carrying bee questions—we can talk for hours. 🐝😂🍯

06/08/2026

🐝 Know Your Honey: What Do “Raw,” “Local,” and “Pure” Really Mean?

Walk through a farmers market or browse the honey aisle and you’ll likely see words like “raw,” “local,” and “pure” on honey labels.

But what do those terms actually mean?

🍯 Raw Honey

Generally, raw honey is honey that has not been heated or heavily processed. It may still be strained to remove wax and debris, but it retains the natural enzymes, pollen, aromas, and characteristics that make each honey unique.

At Old Mill Apiary, we never heat our honey—not even to make extraction easier. We don’t use heated uncapping knives, and we never filter our honey. Instead, we minimally strain it to remove larger bits of wax and hive debris while preserving the qualities that make raw honey what it is.

To us, honey should taste like the season, the flowers, and the landscape that produced it.

Because our honey is minimally processed, you may occasionally see natural variations such as pollen, tiny wax particles, crystallization, or even a layer of what beekeepers call honey foam. These are normal characteristics of raw honey.

🍯 Local Honey

There is no single definition of “local.” For some people, local means produced in their county. For others, it may mean within their state or region. I often hear other beekeepers say local means within fifty miles.

I look at it a little differently.

To me, local isn’t just about distance—it’s about the plants.

If the bees are foraging from the same trees, wildflowers, crops, and seasonal blooms that grow in your area, then the honey reflects that same landscape. The flavor, color, aroma, and pollen content tell the story of what was blooming when the bees collected it.

That’s one of the things that makes honey so fascinating. Every region has its own signature.

Local honey isn’t just about where the hive sits. It’s about the landscape that shaped the honey.

🍯 Pure Honey

When a honey product is labeled pure honey, consumers generally expect it to contain only honey and no added sweeteners.

No corn syrup.
No added sugars.
No unnecessary additives.

A good honey label tells you what the product is. A good beekeeper can tell you where it came from.

At Old Mill Apiary, we believe consumers deserve both.

That’s why we focus on traceability, transparency, and helping customers understand exactly what they’re buying.

When you’re shopping for honey, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Some of the best conversations happen right across the table from the beekeeper.

🐝 When you buy honey, what matters most to you—raw, local, pure, flavor, or knowing the beekeeper behind the jar?

06/05/2026

🐝 Know Your Honey: What Should Be on a Honey Label?

When you buy local honey, the label should do more than look pretty.

In South Carolina, honey producers selling honey from a registered honey house or under the South Carolina Honey Exemption must follow specific labeling requirements, and those labels are reviewed and approved by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Those labels generally include:
🍯 The identity of the product (Honey)
🍯 The producer or business name and address
🍯 The net weight of the honey, shown in both ounces (or pounds) and grams

Why does that matter?

Because a good label helps you know:
🍯 What you’re buying
🍯 Who produced it
🍯 Where it came from
🍯 How to contact the producer if needed

Labels are part of traceability, transparency, and consumer trust.

As part of our commitment to traceability and transparency, Old Mill Apiary extracted honey labels will now include our South Carolina Honey Exemption number. This provides an additional level of transparency and lets customers know our honey is being sold through the proper legal pathway for South Carolina beekeepers selling directly to consumers.

I believe local food should come with a story — but also with clear information you can trust.

Next up in this series, we’ll talk about what “raw,” “local,” and “pure” really mean when you see them on a honey label.

06/04/2026

05/27/2026

🍯 Did you know there are different legal ways honey can be sold in South Carolina?

Not every jar of honey is produced or sold under the same regulations—and many consumers don’t realize there are different pathways that affect where and how products may be sold.

In South Carolina, honey may be sold under different frameworks depending on the product and how it is made, including:

🐝 Honey Exemption – allows qualifying honey producers to sell honey directly under specific conditions.

🏡 Home-Based Food Production – may apply to certain value-added foods made in a home kitchen.

🏢 Inspected / Registered facilities – can allow broader production and market opportunities.

Why does this matter?

Because regulations influence things like:

🍯 What products can be made
🏪 Where products may be sold
🏷️ Labeling requirements
🌎 Expansion into additional markets

At Old Mill Apiary, we believe consumers deserve transparency and education about where their food comes from and how it reaches the jar.

For us, quality starts in the hive and continues all the way to the label.

✨ Local • Traceable • Hive to Jar

05/23/2026

Father’s Day is sneaking up on us, and we’re in the kitchen working on a few ideas for some Old Mill Apiary gift sets. 🐝🍯

Of course our raw honey and hot honey are on the list…but we’re also testing a few new flavors and gift combinations.

One idea we’re especially curious about? ☕🍯 Coffee honey!

We’re thinking rich espresso notes paired with our raw honey for a bold, small-batch blend perfect for coffee lovers.

So tell us…

What flavors would YOU want in a Father’s Day honey gift set?

🔥 Hot Honey
🧂 Salted Honey
☕ Coffee Honey
🍦 Vanilla Honey
🍫 Cacao Honey

Or something else?

(Chris doesn’t know it yet, but he has been officially recruited as coffee taste tester since Alyson doesn’t drink coffee. 😆)

05/20/2026

🐝🌼 World Bee Day – May 20th 🌼🐝

Did you know that honey bees aren’t just responsible for honey?
They help pollinate a huge portion of the food we eat every day — from apples and cucumbers to blueberries, pumpkins, and almonds! 🍎🫐🥒

A single honey bee may visit thousands of flowers in one day, and a strong hive can fly the equivalent of several trips around the earth in just one season. 🌎✨

At Old Mill Apiary, World Bee Day is a reminder that bees are doing incredibly important work long before honey ever reaches the jar. Every bloom they visit helps support gardens, farms, wildlife, and local ecosystems right here in South Carolina.

🐝 A few simple ways you can help pollinators:
• Plant bee-friendly flowers
• Avoid spraying pesticides when plants are blooming
• Support local beekeepers and farmers
• Leave a little “wild” space in your yard for pollinators

And of course…eat local honey. 😉🍯

Thank you for supporting our small apiary and helping us share the story of the bees. Life truly is a little sweeter because of them. 💛