Polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals (such as calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamin C) originate from the nutrients that plants absorb from the soil and incorporate into their floral nectar.
Polyphenols are also responsible for many of a flower's colors and aromas, and they are well known for their beneficial antioxidant properties.
During periods when flowers are scarce, beekeepers may provide sugar syrup to their colonies to prevent the bees from starving. This is an essential part of responsible beekeeping and helps keep the colony healthy.
However, if the timing of feeding and honey harvesting is not carefully managed, bees may store the sugar syrup in the comb and ripen it just as they would floral nectar.
Honey produced from sugar syrup does not contain the polyphenols, vitamins, or minerals that naturally come from floral nectar. Nor does it express the unique terroir—the distinctive character created by the local flowers, climate, and landscape.
That is why, at BeeCamp, we carefully separate our feeding period from our honey harvest. We are committed to harvesting only honey made from natural floral nectar, so that every jar truly reflects the place, the season, and the work of our bees.