Sourwood country: what "South Blue Ridge summer flow" means on the ground

Sourwood is its own special thing. People ask for it the way they ask for a grape or wine they already like. Fine. Open the jar to taste it anyway. It's truly irresistible.

Forest is not meadow. Spring is not summer. And this is not a milder honey with a mountain word taped on. Honey tastes like place. Sourwood should taste like that country in summer, or it is not sourwood.

South Blue Ridge summer, on the ground

South Blue Ridge summer. That is the ground under the name. That is the jar we bottle as South BlueRidge Summer. Raw sourwood from the summer flow in Floyd, VA. Almost 3k feet in elevation. Packed at the farm in Bremo Bluff. A little secret: it's my mom's favorite.

Honeysuckle. Apricot. A little citrus on the finish. We do not stir those in. The bloom does that work, or it doesn't. Very little of it gets made statewide. Goodness it is delightful.

If someone asked for sourwood, that is the jar. Do not swap it or try to change it in anyway. BlueRidge Foothills is a different jar for a reason. Names on our shelf are meant to tell the truth about where and what blooms the bees worked. I refuse the idea that honey is one grocery flavor. We've tried to make everything a commodity. We've lost our sense of specialty. Sourwood is specialty.

Closer to Mike's world

This week I head toward Halifax and Max Meadows Lavender Farm, closer to sourwood country where my buddy Mike works the bees. He works that country. Rolling hills with significant elevation. Beautifully green. Mike's been keeping bees in Virginia for forty years. Unlike me, he grew up in the profession.

Most beekeepers don't have a hive tool that big. It's all I use. It was my grandpas. They dont make them anymore. U can get a tool that looks like it but not that one

— Mike

Standing in that kind of yard is different from Powhatan, and different from home base in Fluvanna. The forage story changes. You are not guessing which bloom the girls are on if you have been paying attention to the calendar and the trees.

When someone says "South Blue Ridge summer flow," they are pointing at a season and a place. Flow means the nectar is moving. Sourwood is the headliner of that stretch for a lot of keepers. Miss the window and you miss the crop. Hit it and you taste why people chase the jar. If it doesn't flow the basswood might and then you've got a completely different honey.

Then home

Last week was the September yard walk. Eggs. Nectar and pollen both. Mites. Formic when the heat lets us. Then this. Then home base in Bremo Bluff and the Fluvanna outyards.

I write these Fridays while I still can. Fall markets will take the calendar soon. The bees do not wait for my booth schedule.

If you want honey that is guaranteed to come off Virginia frames from people who still open the boxes, start with our honey collection. Trust the shelf for what you can buy today. A blog should not outlive a harvest.

Bring your questions to the farm store in Bremo Bluff or the Richmond walk-in at Stony Point.

Journey with the Bees.