Country Fields Beekeeping Supplies

02/18/2026

Whether you’re drizzling it over your morning oats or stirred into a warm cup of tea, honey is more than just a natural sweetener—it’s a powerhouse in a jar. 🍯✨

Here’s why you should keep this liquid gold in your pantry:

Antioxidant Boost: Packed with phenols and flavonoids that help protect your cells. 🛡️

Natural Energy: A perfect, unprocessed fuel source for a quick pre-workout lift. ⚡

Soothe & Heal: Famous for calming scratchy throats and acting as a natural antibacterial for minor scrapes. 🤒

Better for Blood Sugar: While still a sugar, it has a lower GI value than refined white sugar, meaning a slower "crash." 📉

Important Safety Note: Raw honey can contain bacteria spores that can cause infant botulism, a serious illness. For this reason, honey should never be given to infants under one year of age.

Support your local beekeepers and choose raw, unpasteurized honey to get the full spectrum of these benefits for adults and older children! 🐝💛

02/11/2026

Most of us have been enduring a pretty tough winter, and our bees struggle even more than we do. So, here are a few reminders about how we can help them out:

Clear the Entrances: After a heavy snowfall, ensure the bottom entrance and any upper ventilation holes are clear. Bees need oxygen, and they also need a clear path for "cleansing flights" on those rare sunny, mild days.

Check the Weight: Without opening the hive, give it a gentle "heave test" from the back. If it feels light, your colony might be running low on winter stores.

Emergency Feeding: If they’re light, provide dry sugar or fondant above the cluster. Avoid liquid syrup in freezing weather, as it adds moisture and can chill the bees.

Keep Your Distance: Resist the urge to crack the lid! Breaking the propolis seal in freezing temperatures lets all that hard-earned heat escape. Trust the bees—they’ve been doing this for millions of years.

Stay warm out there, and happy beekeeping!

02/03/2026

From the delicate sweetness of spring blossoms to the robust, earthy tones of late-summer wildflowers, the flavour of honey is a direct map of where a bee has been. Because honey bees exhibit floral fidelity—meaning they stick to one type of flower until the nectar is gone—they create distinct, single-origin honey profiles.

Here is a quick guide to how different flowers shape your favourite jar:

🍯 The Honey Flavour Map
Clover: The classic "gold standard." It’s mild, sweet, and has a delicate floral finish that’s perfect for tea.

Buckwheat: Dark, rich, and pungent. It tastes like molasses or malty chocolate and is packed with antioxidants.

Lavender: Incredibly aromatic with a light, herbal citrus twist. It’s the ultimate choice for drizzling over goat cheese.

Wildflower: A "polyfloral" blend. Since it comes from whatever is blooming nearby, the flavour is a unique, local snapshot of the season.

Manuka: Earthy and slightly bitter with a medicinal kick, world-renowned for its unique antibacterial properties.

Whether you like it light and sunny or dark and bold, there is a whole world of nectar out there to explore!

Do you have a favourite? Let us know! 🐝😋🐝😋

01/28/2026

Mexico is home to a fascinating, ancient lineage of pollinators known as the Meliponini, or stingless honeybees. Long before the Spanish arrival and the introduction of the European honeybee (Apis mellifera), these native bees were the heart of Mesoamerican honey production.

Ancient Roots and Sacred Traditions
For the Maya civilization, the Melipona beecheii (known as Xunaan-Kab) was more than just an insect—it was a sacred gift from the god Ah Muzen Cab. Unlike their European cousins, these bees do not have functional stingers. Instead, they defend their colonies by biting or simply retreating into their unique, tube-like hive entrances.

Why They Matter Today
While European honeybees dominate the modern commercial industry, stingless bees are the "O.G." pollinators of the Mexican jungle. Their honey is prized for its medicinal properties, often used in traditional remedies for eye conditions and respiratory issues.

Supporting Meliponiculture today isn't just about preserving a species; it’s about protecting a cultural legacy that has survived for millennia. By choosing local Melipona products, you’re supporting a practice that has been in equilibrium with the Mexican landscape since long before the first European sails appeared on the horizon.

01/20/2026

Hey there, honeybee lovers. Are there some of you out there who are interested in bees, but have yet to take the plunge in terms of setting up your own hive? Let us know what has stopped you so far... maybe we can help, or you can get some advice and guidance from our beekeeper followers?

Let us know! 🐝🥰🐝🐝

01/19/2026

We will be closed today, January 19th as the shop does not have power. Apologies for any inconvenience.

01/13/2026

It's cold out there. Sometimes our little bee friends need some help.
Maybe you could check the pantry? 🍯❄️

While it looks quiet from the outside, January is actually one of the busiest months inside the hive. The Queen has likely started laying her first few eggs of the year, and the colony has to work overtime to keep those "winter babies" at a steady 35°C (95°F).

Keeping that heat up takes a massive amount of energy, and this is the time of year when their winter honey stores can start to run dangerously low.

Today I’m doing a quick "heave test"—just a gentle lift of the back of the hive to check the weight. It felt a little light, so I’m moving in with an emergency snack: The Sugar Brick. 🍭

Unlike liquid syrup (which adds too much moisture in winter), this solid fondant gives them the boost they need to survive until the first spring blooms appear. It’s the ultimate "safety net" for the girls!

Beekeepers: Have you checked your hive weights lately? Let’s get them through to spring! 🐝👇

01/09/2026

Stingless bees gain legal protection in Peru. What do you think?

It’s about damn time.

01/09/2026

Happy Friday! We will be closed Saturday, January 10th. Back open Monday, January 12th at 9:30am. Apologies for any inconvenience 🐝

01/06/2026

Looking out at your snow covered maple trees? Thinking about tapping them this year? 🌳 Here is your "Bare Bones" starter list to get from tree to table:

- Taps (Spiles): To get the sap flowing.

- Buckets or Food-Grade Jugs: To catch the goods.

- A Drill: With a bit that matches your spile size (usually 5/16" or 7/16").

- Cheesecloth: For filtering out "nature" (bark and bits).

- A Large Pot & Heat Source: An outdoor propane burner is a lifesaver!

- Finishing Thermometer: Because precision is key at the finish line.

It’s simpler than it looks and so worth the effort. Who’s joining me this season? 🍯

01/01/2026

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year!

12/29/2025

Do you make New Years resolutions? Well, here are 5 that every beekeeper should follow through on! 🥰🐝🥰🐝

1. Commit to Monthly Mite Checks
Stop guessing and start testing. Perform a monthly Varroa mite wash during the active season. Using hard data allows you to treat colonies only when necessary, preventing late-season crashes.

2. Prioritize Swarm Prevention
Stay ahead of the spring buildup by inspecting weekly for queen cells. Ensure the colony has ample space to expand; keeping your bees in the hive is more effective than catching them in a tree.

3. Plant for the "Nectar Dearth"
Add at least three new pollinator species to your garden. Focus on plants that bloom in early spring or late summer when natural forage is scarce, reducing the need for emergency sugar feeding.

4. Record Every Inspection
Maintain a consistent hive log. Documenting queen productivity, temperament, and food stores immediately after opening a box helps you make better management decisions by the end of the year.

5. Level Up Your Education
Deepen your understanding of honey bee biology. Join a local club or read a technical beekeeping manual to transition from being a "bee owner" to a skilled, observant beekeeper.