Yellow Creek – As everyone was preparing to celebrate the birthday of our nation, something exciting was happening on Yellow Creek at Marie’s Lavender Farm.
Allen Wamsley suited up to harvest lavender honey from the hives he had strategically placed on the grounds of the farm July 3. Farm owner Susan Huskey and a few guests gathered to watch the event.
The harvest was not ordinary. It had been carefully planned and executed to collect the purest, most natural, raw lavender honey ever harvested in Graham County.
Wamsley is a certified beekeeper with the North Carolina Beekeepers Association and a member of the Smoky Mountain Bee Keeping Association. He has spent many hours in preparation for this harvest. In fact, this harvest has been three years in the making.
The first year Wamsley and Huskey planned for the harvest, ants took over the hive; last year, the queen bee decided to leave.
Timing, the weather and nature’s cooperation had to align perfectly for this extraction to take place. Wamsley had transported his Italian honeybees to the location to ensure the honey would be naturally pollinated. The imported Italian honeybees are known for their production of brilliant white capping.
The timing of the lavender bloom had to be calculated as well. Even the placement of the beehives was taken into consideration.
The goals for the honey collection were simple: to collect lavender honey and to collect a frame with purple in it to enter it in the North Carolina State Fair.
Wamsley began his pull by checking out his hive, which he refers to as “Nik” – named after one of his daughters.
It seemed to have an amount of honey produced, but he moved on to his main hive, the hive he named “Kris” after his other daughter. This is the one he planned to focus on for the main production.
As he began to manipulate the top of the hive, bees swarmed.
“We are in the zone,” Wamsley observed. ‘They aren’t happy, so you know you are going to get honey.”
The first hive frame lifted was perfection. The cone was completely sealed. The honey was a lovely white color. Wamsley excitedly shared a sample of the pure, raw honey with the spectators before continuing to harvest around 50 pounds of the honey.
The harvest was history in the making. Graham County is advertised as “Your Natural Destination” – and this harvest is a perfect example of what others seek when they travel to the area.
In addition to being an avid beekeeper, Wamsley is owner and operator of the Simple Life Mountain Retreat, located in the Mountain Creek Community of Graham County. Wamsley and Huskey are true pioneers in the agribusiness community of Graham County.
They have truly found a home and a passion for nature in our mountains.