About Turning Creek Artisans

In keeping with Turning Creek Artisan's goal of providing gifts "Inspired by Nature", we are proud to offer Turning Creek Honey. Nestled beside Timpson Creek, eleven miles east of the Appalachian Trail, our main apiary thrives in an organic apple and blueberry orchard. Energetic worker bees collect pollen and nectar from apple blossoms, blueberry bushes and the thousands of wild flowers that grow in the surrounding fields and mountains in Spring and Summer. After the first harvest in late June, our bees continue collecting pollen from summer flowers and Sourwood Trees, producing the distinct flavor of Mountain Sourwood Honey harvested in late August. Turning Creek's bee population consists of both New World Carniolan and Italian bees. Both species are excellent honey producers with a mild temperament. Since most of the land around the apiary is used for grazing horses and mules, there is little need for pesticides that bees would normally bring back to the hives. Timpson Creek, a fresh, clean trout stream provides a constant source of fresh mountain water to sustain our healthy, happy bees. You might notice that our honey is lighter than what you find in the grocery stores and other vendors. In addition, the taste of our honey is more distinctive and sweeter than many of the other common honeys. There are several reasons for these wonderful attributes: • First, we separate our honeys by Apiary and in some cases by hive, this keeps the unique favors created by the bees from being muddled. • Second, we extract the honey from the combs using a cold process method. This year we added a chain un-capper which eliminates the need for using a hot knife to remove the honey comb caps. It also minimizes the damage to the comb so the bees can reuse the comb again, with less repair work on their part. • Third, we make use of a single straining process combined with a five day settling process to remove any impurities. The resulting honey retains more of the local pollen which has health benefits for those who suffer from allergies. It also gives the honey its distinctive flavor which so many of our clients enjoy and keeps them coming back for more. Because of adherence to these quality processing steps, the resulting raw honey contains 100% of its natural, healthy enzymes in addition to much of the beneficial pollen that is lost in commercial heat processed honey. And, well, the flavor! In fact we are so proud of our bees' efforts, we offer our honey in a number of different glass containers which are perfect leaving out on the counter or on the table. For those of you that prefer the classic squeeze and honey bear bottles, we still offer those as well. We currently have three apiaries: one on our property outside of Clayton, a second in nearby Lakemont, Georgia, and third is at 12 Spies Vineyard in Rabun Gap.