Tennessee Artisan Honey

GARY STRANGE started his apiary in 1983 with 100 hives in Del Rio, TN. Today, Gary and his crew care for 1650-2000 natural hives harvesting pure, raw honey. Strange Honey Farm has been registered with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for 25 years.

​Located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, Del Rio sits along the French Broad River in the Tennessee Cherokee National Forest about 240 miles northeast of Nashville. Fortunately, the mountains are not conducive to industry or commercial farming and pesticide spraying. This pristine environment is a beekeeper's dream come true: it provides a full season of nectar and pollen for healthy bees and in turn, a significant harvest of delicious honey. The Strange Honey Farm harvests enough honey April-September to last through the winter months supplying 100% Pure Tennessee Mountain honey year round.

Gary Strange uses natural bee management techniques when working with his bees. No sugar is fed to the bees at any time. When there is a summer drought, Gary feeds the Strange Honey Farm bees back their own honey harvest to keep them healthy. He uses essential oil of Thyme in the very early spring for varroa mite control. By leaving ample honey in the hive and taking the seasons harvest at the end of September, Gary insures the bees have time to harvest fall nectar and pollen for the winter months.

Strange Honey Farm does not buy honey from other beekeepers, heat the honey or ultra-filter the honey. They are subjected to unannounced state inspections and honey analysis.

CAROL HAGEN is the proprietor of Queen Bee Pollinators, purveyor of Artisan Creamed Honey and the Nashville area distributor for Strange Honey Farm. A lifelong advocate of sustainability and natural farming, Carol strongly believes happy, healthy bees produce the best honey. Queen Bee Pollinators is pleased to deliver pure, raw honey and pollen from naturally managed mountain bee hives. We harvest three distinct types of honey: Dark Wildflower, Sourwood and Tennessee Mountain. Our honey is lightly filtered so the naturally occurring pollen remains a significant feature of Tennessee Artisan Honey. ​