The Shelburne Honey Company

  located at Apex Orchards

Owned and operated by Tim Smith, the Shelburne Honey Company sells its fine honey products at the Apex Orchard store and at fine food stores around Franklin County Massachusetts.

Tim first started keeping bees when he was in high school in 1972.  It seemed like a good fit with the orchard and the apiary grew to provide enough bees for pollination every spring. Additional hives were rented out to pollinate neighboring orchards.  Tim also expanded for a while in the early 1980’s into cranberry and cucumber pollination.

Currently the Shelburne Honey Company runs about 100 hives a year, depending mainly on how well they are able to deal with the increasing black bear population. Their hives are used to pollinate their crops here on the farm and also for honey production.  At Apex Orchards, they currently grow apples, peaches, nectarines, pears, Asian pears, plums, apricots, pluots, squash and pumpkins.  All of these crops require bees for pollination, so the bees are busy throughout the season.

Tim Smith also advises cranberry growers on the benefits of pollinating their crops with bees and has traveled to Wisconsin to meet with growers there. Bees are used to pollinate the cranberry bogs because the cranberry pollen is heavy and sticky and is not •wind pollinated. It requires insect pollination within 3-4 days of the flower opening.

The honey that Shelburne Honey Company produces and packs is of the highest quality.  It is never filtered. This helps to help maintain the wonderful flavors and aroma.  It is stored and packed to prevent damage from excess heat so that it retains all its nutritional value.  Tim and his bees believe that you will find this to be some of the best honey you have ever tasted.

Tim Smith, Shelburne Honey Company, 153 Peckville Road, Shelburne, MA

Give us a call at 413-625-2744 or 413-625-2744
or email us at info@apexorchards.com