Sweet As Can Bee | Killer Bees Honey

Issue: 2021/06 – June

Denise Altay and Sean Collinsworth

On any given day, beekeeper Sean Collinsworth and his wife Denise Altay can be found tending to the three apiaries and the honey production at Killer Bees Honey, their bee farm in Lake Toxaway.  

Sean’s journey to beekeeping began at 12. Then, living in Chicago, he acquired his first hives. Years later, as a college student, he witnessed the annual migration of thousands of monarch butterflies and became fascinated with the act of pollination, and the honeybee – the perfect generalist pollinator.  

Seven years ago, they moved to the Plateau, acquiring property surrounded by 5,200 acres of Pisgah Forest. There, they founded their bee farm in order to protect the biodiversity of  these woodlands.  

As I learned from Sean, honey is the world’s oldest natural sweet, and honey gathering was known as early as the Stone Age.  Still, beekeeping operations require tireless vigilance, and the production of honey is both an exacting and meticulous process. In recent years, as awareness of the health benefits of honey and its products have generated increased demand, so too has the adulteration of honey.  

Today, a certified beekeeper and honey sommelier, Sean produces the purest artisanal honey to be found anywhere. So vigilant is the company about the transparency of their honey, Killer Bees Honey are the only beekeepers in the US who send their honey to labs in the US and Germany for evaluation of the purity of its content. Likewise they are the only members of their industry who publish the results.    

Sean likens honey to wine – a product of the land and the weather, flavored by its locale and sense of place.  Unlike wine, it is also a result of the nectar source – the indigenous flora within a 3-mile radius of the hives. He explains that “Our Artisanal honey is nothing like the heat-treated, ultra-filtered, bland, off-the-shelf store honey.  Tasting Killer Bees Honey the first time is akin to eating a farm fresh egg or garden-grown tomato – your taste buds come alive with a host of flavors you didn’t know were possible.” 

“We are extremely proud that Killer Bees Honey’s 75-acre apiary is now officially a Wildlife Refuge under the NC Wildlife Conservation Lands Program,” says Denise. “We continually strive to be an excellent steward of the land by making a way station for migrating pollinators and birds. This is a better place not just for visitors like us, but a home for generations of insects and animals that pollinate 90 percent of the surrounding Pisgah Forest and the adjacent Southern Appalachian Mountains.”

The company also supports bees through their non-profit Queen’s Brigade and is known as well for the four-hour bee tours they conduct seasonally. The Trip Advisor award-winning tour delves into the bee’s role in the sustainability of the forest and includes a and includes an upfront and personal hive inspection in a full bee suit along with a honey tasting and pairing.

Take note that both the tours and honey frequently sell out.  For more information visit, killerbeeshoney.com.