We love honeybees. These buzzy little insects play a critical role in ecosystems across the world, pollinating over $15B worth of crops, sustaining valuable biodiversity and making their sweet, golden elixir. But, we don’t necessarily want to host their hives. That’s where PA Preferred® 4 Brothers Honey comes in. These beekeepers in Horsham, Montgomery County provide honey and bee products while also removing and rehoming honeybees who have found their way into the wrong buildings and homes.
As a PA Preferred business, 4 Brothers Honey products are made with locally harvested honey and ingredients. President Sarah Humes says, “We like that PA Preferred connects us to Pennsylvania agriculture in a way that consumers can recognize.”
4 Brothers Honey produces local honey, pollen, propolis throat spray and beeswax products like lip balm, salve, candles and fire starters. The honey harvest starts in mid-June, with the other products available year round. Humes says, “Our two most popular products are our local honey and our propolis and honey throat spray.”
In addition to its product line, 4 Brothers Honey offers its special honeybee cutout service, which Humes loves. She says, “A large part of our beekeeping business revolves around structural removal and rehoming of honeybees and the physical repairing of the buildings. We married our longstanding construction company with our beekeeping passion to create this business. We love that we can serve the community by removing honeybees from unwanted locations and successfully rehome them, which, in turn, allows us to provide the community with the wonderful products that honeybees produce.”
Swarm removal services
The 4 Brothers Honey approach differs from many other beekeepers’, as it tends to a variety of hives, spread over the SEPA region and beyond. Humes says, “We keep honeybees in many different locations in the area and across PA. All of the apiaries are on the smaller side. We bottle our honey specific to location and call it “micro-local.” Consumers can purchase blends of honey from larger areas, or very specific to the town they live in.”
Many feel that hyper local honey supports allergy relief and, simply, tastes better.
To try these honey products yourself or for hive removal services, visit the 4 Brothers Honey website and follow it on Facebook and Instagram. You can also visit its farm stand during honey season at 827 Herman Rd., Horsham.
This series was created in collaboration with PA Preferred.
PA Preferred® is Pennsylvania’s statewide branding program that promotes locally grown and processed food and other agricultural products.
- Photos: 4 Brothers Honey
