Sour Wood and Multi-Floral honey is now available in the Hooves and Honey Store! Swing by the farm and pick some up today! 

 

 

How did Hooves-n-Honey come to de la Cruz Farms?

In 2013, thirty blueberry bushes and a few “bugs in a box” pollinating those bushes started our beekeeping endeavors.  Three beehives along with the knowledge needed to manage those bees have grown into a sideline operation of more than 100 hives.  Living in an area that produces some of the best honey varietals (Sourwood, Basswood, Tulip Poplar) in the world, Hooves-n-Honey Farms strives to the provide the most pure and unadulterated honey by the bucket and jar.  We aim to maintain the integrity honey deserves so that we may bring a high-quality product from our farm to your table.

We at Hooves-n-Honey Farms manage our yearly operation in order to position our hives to capture varietal honey that takes on the particular flavors based on the soil on which the flowers grow in a climate common to the High-Country region of North Carolina.  Honey has “terroir”, which is a French term meaning “a sense of place”.  Much like grapes growing in a region that encompasses all the factors needed to produce wine in a vineyard, honey will take on environmental characteristics unique to a special area of focus, as well.

Three primary floral sources, with slight variances in flavor from year to year, make up the largest percentage of our Honey production. 

1. Sourwood Honey – The sourwood tree has long, dropping clusters of sweet smelling white, bell-shaped flowers, called “angel fingers” indigenous to the Appalachian region.  It will also be referred to as Lily-of-the-Valley tree.  Connoisseurs and honey purists worldwide view sourwood honey as a premium product.  It will vary between light and extra-light in color.  Slow to crystallize, Sourwood is very aromatic with distinct flavor of spice and anise.  Twice, Sourwood has won best honey in the world at the prestigious Apimondia World Honey Show.
 
2. Tulip Poplar – A deep red mineral rich flavored honey which is often considered our Spring Honey.  The Tulip Poplar Tree is the tallest of the eastern American Hardwoods.  It is considered a favorite among honeybees due to the copious amounts of nectar and pollen the flower on the tree has the potential to produce.Consumers will pick upon its intense and robust flavor with fruity notes of fig jams, cherries, and dates.  
 
3. Basswood Honey – “Darker is not always stronger”, and the Linden or Basswood Tree producing the nectar that makes Basswood Honey, proves that.  The premier honey becomes clear to light amber color with yellow tone over time.  The aroma is described as citrus, menthol, and camphor in flavor.  When the basswood is purer in nature, you will experience a mint taste on the back end of the flavor.  It goes well with lemon sherbets and herbal teas.  For medicinal purposes, Basswood Honey is often combined with lemon in hot water for colds, sore throats, and fevers as a diaphoretic.  It will often be utilized as a topical antiseptic to treat burns, eczema, and festering sores.

 Visit our honey store located at the farm.  We operate on a complete honor policy.  Please contact us for a tour of our farm and honey production process.  Please call 828-964-8152 with any questions.  

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Mail Check To:

de la Cruz Farms
PO Box 165
Deep Gap, North Carolina 28618