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Great Lakes Bee Co. celebrates grand opening and 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey

 

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, Great Lakes Bee Company hosted a grand opening at its new storefront in Old Rink Plaza in Fremont in celebration of Honey Harvest Month this September and the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey.

In recent years, backyard beekeeping has been on the rise, not just in Michigan, but nationwide. Great Lakes Bee Company in Fremont has been on the forefront of promoting the importance of beekeeping in the region and how it benefits Michigan’s economy and agriculture. Each May, bees from GLBC return home to Fremont, Michigan, after pollinating almond crops in California and rebuilding of hives in Georgia. When they’re back home, they forage on Newaygo County’s basswood, alfalfa, star thistle, and West Michigan flowers to create 150,000 pounds of Michigan’s Hasselman’s Honey.

“For us, it all started in 1974 with Larry Hasselman and his hobby for beekeeping,” said Great Lakes Bee Company owner Genji Leclair. “Larry founded Hasselman’s Honey after growing his passion and curiosity for bees, creating a distinctively delicious tasting honey. Since establishing Great Lakes Bee Company in 2016, it has been my mission to maintain Larry’s honey legacy and preserve the sources and processes that he has used since the 1970s, while also striving to produce only the best honey for our customers.”

During the event, Larry Hasselman shared how his honey business “accidently happened” with a Christmas gift of beekeeping items from his parents and the with bees would come later that spring. That spring Hasselman received two packages of bees and within a a couple months a majority of the bees in his two hives were dead.

“From then on, I called it the hobby that got out of hand,” laughed Hasselman.

From there, Hasselman grew his beekeeping hobby to 500 hives and began shipping “Hasselman’s Honey” throughout Michigan and Chicago.

“I was at the right place at the right time with the right people,” he said.

In addition to honey production, bees from Newaygo County also pollinate various crops including: almonds (January); apricots, sweet cherries, peaches and plums (April); tart cherries, pears, blueberries and apples (May).

“Bees play a significant role in our region’s and nation’s agriculture,” said Leclair. “By pollinating many crops used for animal feed, bees contribute to a third of the world’s food production. They are also essential in helping to maintain biodiversity and preserving our ecosystem that we depend on to survive. At Great Lakes Bee Company, we help educate the public about the irreplaceable value of honey bees to our environment.”

In addition to Hasselman’s Honey and supplying bees to beekeepers, GLBC sells beekeeping equipment and products made from their beeswax including candles and raw wax.

During the grand opening event, GLBC owner Genji Leclair and local representatives from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and River Country Chamber of Commerce of Newaygo County hosted  a ribbon cutting signifying the opening of the new store. Additionally, Fremont City Manager Todd Blake, presented us with a City Council resolution;  while Kelly Lively from Sen. Gary Peters’ office and District Staff Assistant William Campbell from Congressman John Moolenaar’s office each presented a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition to GLBC and Hasselman’s Honey.  Also in attendance were Jodi Gruner from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, State Rep. Joseph Fox; and Mary Judnich from Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s office.

“September is National Honey Harvest Month so it’s an exciting time for us in the bee business,” said Leclair. “We are excited to welcome the public to our new store, where you can learn more about bees, beekeeping and buy our own beekeeping supplies and honey-related products.”

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September in the Hive

 

This September is extra sweet … not only is it National Honey Month, but we’re also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey!

Initiated by the National Honey Board in the U.S. in 1989, National Honey Month is a time to celebrate bees, honey, and beekeepers – just in time for harvest. People throughout the world depend on honey bees and their role in pollinating the ecosystem. Did you know about one-third of the average person’s diet in the United States is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for about 80 percent of that process? It’s true! Without honey bees, we wouldn’t have apples, cabbage, lemons, onions, or watermelon, and other fresh crops.

Because of beekeepers, honey production continues to thrive. Rounding out the harvest season this September, there’s plenty for beekeepers to pay attention to in their hives, and some might start thinking ahead to the winter months.

If you’re harvesting honey, we recommend extracting your supers as soon as possible to avoid wax moth and small hive beetle larva, which can damage your hives. Beekeepers should also monitor for extra space in your supers, as any that are light with nectar will create more space for wax moths and small hive beetles to invade. Getting your supers extracted also lets you set them up back outside as a community feeder to both let bees build their stores, and get your combs cleaned out for winter storage. You should put these far away from the hives, or freeze them to reintroduce to the hives when needed.

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer with your bees! Thanks to you and your bees, beekeepers help make the world a sweeter place. Join us during Fremont’s Harvest Festival Parade on Sept. 26 as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hasselman’s Honey and Fremont’s OG Beekeeper, Larry Hasselman!

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Bourbon and Honey: Breaking Bourbon raves over New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel Bourbon made with GLBC Honey

 

In a review by Breaking Bourbon, Nick Beiter shared his tasting experience of New Holland Brewing Company’s second release of Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel, which uses GLBC’s Hasselman’s Honey.

“When combined with honey barrel finishing, the result is a whiskey that’s dense and sweet, with ample honey-influence throughout,” wrote Beiter. “Dragon’s Milk’s base bourbon flavor profile still manages to cut through the dense honey to create a complementary base. By that measure, it’s exactly what someone might expect from a honey finished bourbon, leaning heavily into the honey.”

According to Beiter, Dragon’s Milk Origin Honey Barrel, which debuted in April 2023, is set to be an annual, limited release from now on with bottles made available exclusively at New Holland’s Holland locations.

“To construct this small batch release, New Holland Spirits partnered with Great Lakes Bee Company to source their Hasselman’s Honey. Bourbon barrels were dumped and re-filled with honey to age, and then dumped again and refilled with Dragon’s Milk Origin Bourbon to finish before being batched and bottled.”

Read the full review from Breaking Bourbon’s Nick Beiter, here.

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Why The Metropolitan calls Great Lakes Bee Co. honey ‘delicious’ honey and beeswax candles a ‘rich experience’

 

The Metropolitan, a publication based in Detroit, featured Great Lakes Bee Company’s Hasselman’s Honey and beeswax candles in its June 2024 article, “What do you get by mixing, honey, hot sauce and fried chicken?”

Here’s why The Metropolitan’s staff called our honey “delicious” and the aroma and glow of our beeswax candles a “rich experience.”

The Metropolitan: What do you get by mixing, honey, hot sauce and fried chicken?

Hasselman’s Honey (and, beeswax candles) | Fremont, MI

Since 1974. 100% Local Western Michigan, Unprocessed, Raw & Unfiltered.

Last month, we sent contributing crack storyteller, Jamiel Dado to the west side of Michigan to see what he could dig up on the bee community and those products associated with what the Empire called, Apis mellifera. In his article, “Beeing There,” for The Metropolitan, Jamiel wrote about his journey to Kropscott Farm Environmental Center and observations and discussions from our bee class.

While his experience can be found in the previous link, we’d like to discuss a couple of the products coming out of Great Lakes Bee Company.

It says right on the bottle that Hasselman’s Honey comes straight from the hive, with all the benefits natural honey has to offer. While there is rigorous debate over the health benefits associated with honey – natural sugar vs processed, local honey vs global, etc. – those who keep bees are confident that locally produced, raw, unprocessed honey not only tastes great but provides a myriad of benefits to better living (myriad, a word I do not use in daily conversation but thought it worked given the previous Latin).

We spoon this robust honey on our homemade bread and toast, in our bowl of Whole Milk Greek Yogurt w/ berries, and stir it in our afternoon teas.

Delicious!

Had I been with Jamiel, I might have asked Hasselman what makes the flavor of their honey unique? What flowers contribute to its taste? Does Lake Michigan have anything to do with the end product? How do we safely and ethically support bee communities into producing their finest product? And, how should bees be compensated for their work?

But, alas, I was not there.

Apart from Hasselman’s Honey, we have also been writing by beeswax candlelight for the past 30 days and must say, it has produced a much richer experience – we enjoy the aroma and its soft, flickering, glow!

Hasselman’s small batch honey comes from the Western Shores of Michigan and is hand bottled in Fremont, Michigan, by the Great Lakes Bee Company.

 

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We MOVED! Come see us at our new location on Warner Avenue in Fremont

 

Have you heard the news … WE’VE MOVED!! We’re now located in the Old Rink Plaza, 5973 S. Warner Ave., just down the road from Fremont High School! We are currently only open for in-person shopping by appointment at this time until we get fully settled.

As always, we are open online 24/7 at www.GreatLakesBeeCo.com (Any orders placed online, can be picked up without having to make an appointment).

To schedule an appointment, email: info@greatlakesbeeco.com

Here’s a sneak peek inside our new space!

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Great Lakes Bee Company featured in The Metropolitan

 

Writer and gardner Jamiel Dado joined us for our second beekeeping class in March. In his article, “Beeing There,” for The Metropolitan, Jamiel wrote about his journey to Kropscott Farm Environmental Center and observations and discussions from our bee class.

In his article, Jamiel writes:

“Stefan (Braun) turned out to be a very affable teacher and made the time fly. He made it quite clear from the beginning that keeping bees would result in getting stung quite often. He said that he gets stung on average 50 times a year. He explained that although he wears the protective headgear, he doesn’t usually wear the gloves. I could imagine that they would be bulky and thus difficult to handle things. At this point, a retired doctor in the group informed the class that bee sting therapy was still widely used in the treatment of arthritis. So, I guess it’s a positive thing? It became clear during the presentation that many things the beekeeper does to the bees ends up making them angry, explaining the large amount of stinging involved. His main advice regarding the stinging was to get the stinger out as soon as possible.

One of the controversial aspects about beekeeping (and there are several) that I have come across is the notion that when you harvest honey from the hive, you essentially starve the bees during the winter. I was happy to learn during the course of the day that this is not the method of the responsible beekeeper. Each hive of bees needs between 60-100 pounds of honey to get through the winter. This is accomplished in the space of two supers filled with honeycombed nucs. Once these are filled, additional supers and nucs are placed on top and those are soon filled as well. Stefan asserts that bees are naturally overachievers and will produce much more honey than they need to get through the winter. On average, using this method will supply you with 50-100 pounds of excess honey to harvest per hive!

That’s a lot of honey!

Way to go bees!

One of the best pieces of advice that Stefan stressed on more than one occasion was to find a local bee club to find a mentor and resources. Most bee clubs will have important equipment needed to harvest honey and will usually share or rent it out to members.

If the idea of having a surplus of honey and a new hobby interests you, then I would recommend learning a thing or two from Stefan and the Great Lakes Bee Company. In addition to the classes, they sell bees to get you all set up. In fact, you can purchase nine frame “nucs” that will give you a head start on your honey production.”

Thank you, Jamiel, for joining us at our beekeeping class and writing a fun story about beekeeping!

Read Jamiel’s full article in The Metropolitan, here.

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Looking for a last-minute holiday gift? Why bees and beekeeping classes make great gifts for the holidays or any occasion

 

Great Lakes Bee Company Owner Genji Leclair and General Manager Stefan Braun talked with FOX 17 Morning Mix and WOOD TV8 about how bees can make the perfect last-minute holiday gift.

“Bees are fascinating,” Leclair told FOX 17. “They’re important and have such a contribution to farming, agriculture, our food supply and they’re fun to take care of.”

Braun, who admits to being fascinated by any “creepy crawlies,” told FOX 17: “Bees carry a special place for me. I’ve been around them since I was a little kid. Once I became an adult, I dove in head first and learned everything there is to know about bees and want to continue learning about them.”

Leclair shared that if you’re thinking about giving the gift of bees for any occasion, there are some things to take into consideration, Leclair and Braun said.

“To take care of a domesticated animal – that is the honey bee – that’s something that can’t be taken lightly,” said Braun. “It is a chore and it is a job – and I love doing it.”

“When giving bees as a gift you want to make sure the person you’re giving it to – it’s like giving a puppy or any kind of animal – that they’re up for the challenge and the long-term commitment,” said Leclair. “A lot people think bees, because they’re wild insects, you can put them in their hive and they’ll be okay. But that’s not the case. In choosing a gift like this for someone, you want to make sure that this is something that they’re up for and would be committed to.

“You also want to make sure that they’re not allergic to bees,” Leclair added. “Bees do sting and some people are allergic, so you want to take that into consideration as well. Other than that, there’s some ongoing costs. Just like taking a dog to the vet and getting those vaccines, there’s care for the hive as well because there are different things that can happen in the hive – you might have to replace your queen, you have to treat the hive for certain things. Other than that, it’s fascinating and it’s so fun and amazing to be in the bee world.”

Great Lakes Bee Co. also wants to help beekeepers – new and experienced – with their bees. They’re offering beekeeping classes on March 9 and March 23. Classes are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and are $50. Online registration is open.

“It’s a beginner bee class that will tell people how to prepare their location for the bees, how to maintain their bees, what kind of elements to look for in their bees and, of course, the most important part, how to harvest their honey; and how to make it a relationship between the beekeeper and the hive,” said Braun.

“A lot of times when people want to start beekeeping, they don’t know exactly what they need to have to start beekeeping, so we thought it would be a good option to allow people to purchase their bees, their hives and all the accessories they’ll need to go with it,” Braun told WOOD TV8. “It’s really handy for newbie beekeepers to know what they need to start out.”

“When I moved to Michigan and started to get into bees, I had no idea where to start,” Leclair said during her interview with WOOD TV8. “I just knew I loved honey and wanted to do something great for the environment. A lot of people just don’t know a lot about the importance of bees, what they do for the environment, how they impact the local ecology around their areas, the agriculture and their own garden. Beekeeping is one way you can really support your local farmer or even your own local grower, and also get some honey.

“Having access to information and someone who can mentor and demonstrate what it’s like to interact with the bees, how to set up a bee hive, how to protect yourself when you’re working with bees and some of the ins and outs of beekeeping is a great way to start your adventure in beekeeping, and have a little confidence in going into getting your bees started,” she added.

What’s Leclair’s favorite part about bees: Honey

“We have local, raw, unfiltered, unprocessed honey – it’s so healthy for you and it tastes so good,” she said. “Anytime you can get local, raw unprocessed honey do it from your local beekeepers. In addition to that, the hive has a lot of great byproducts like beeswax, and honeycomb and infused honey.”

Honey bees, honey and bee products and swag are available on the Great Lakes Bee Co. website. Beekeeping equipment will be available for purchase on the website in January 2024.

Watch both segments here:

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Michigan Radio: ‘Bee-ing More Observant’ at Great Lakes Bee Co. Bee Pickup Event

Michigan Radio reporter Dustin Dwyer joined the Great Lakes Bee Co. for the second day of bee pickups this year to learn more about these buzzing pollinators and how they are helping the environment.

“When you get a nuc – a 9-frame nuc – you’re getting a regular hive box that you can use in your yard and they’re filled with bees,” Great Lakes Bee Company Owner Genji Leclair told Dwyer during the annual event. “There’s probably some honey in there, a queen, and baby bees being born – they’re so cute.”

The country’s agriculture depends on bees as farmers need them to pollinate crops, such as blueberries, apples, peaches, cherries, and almonds. Sarah Szymczyk and her family were among the many backyard beekeepers who attended GLBC’s annual spring bee pickup, bringing home thousands of bees inside their nuc.

“Our goal in life is to be sustainable living – being able to grow our own food and live in a space that we don’t depend on any other market and bees is the way to that,” she told Michigan Radio. “You have to have food and bees give you food.”

Listen to Michigan Radio’s full podcast about GLBC’s annual bee pickup: “Bee-ing More Observant.”

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Buzzing Bees: 2023 Bee Pick Up events a success

 

Bees from Great Lakes Bee Co. recently returned home to Michigan after pollinating almond crops in California and rebuilding of hives in Georgia. Hundreds of backyard and professional beekeepers from the Great Lakes region gathered to pick up their bees to add to their colonies during our annual Bee Pick-Up events on May 6 and 13 at Kropscott Farm in Fremont.


Now that GLBC bees have returned to Michigan, they forage on basswood, alfalfa, star thistle, and West Michigan flowers to create 150,000 pounds Michigan Honey. In addition to producing honey under the Hasselman brand, the bees are also hired to help pollinate various crops including: almonds (January); apricots, sweet cherries, peaches and plums (April); tart cherries, pears, blueberries and apples (May).


Over the course of GLBC’s two pick up days, beekeepers picked up a total of 1,128 bee nucs and packages. It was a wonderful turnout and we had so much fun talking with everyone who attended our pickups! We want to also thank you for bearing with us on our second day of pickups as we had a break down with one of our trucks, which caused a long delay. We truly appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.


A special shout out to our volunteer team and all of you, our patient beekeepers, who helped throughout the day.


Enjoy your bees! We hope you have a great bee season!

In the Media:

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Watch GLBC’s Genji Leclair make a Honey Bloody Mary on Good Day Northern Michigan

As the holiday season continues with parties and get-togethers with family and friends, Great Lakes Bee Co. Owner Genji Leclair shares how you can use honey to create a Honey Bloody Mary that’s packed with nutrients to kick any holiday hangovers or enjoy on National Bloody Mary Day, which happens to be Jan. 1, 2023 – New Year’s Day.

In a recent Good Day Northern Michigan on 9&10 News segment, Leclair also explained how honey could be considered a miracle food.

“Honey is a special sugar,” Leclair said during her live interview with GDNM on Dec. 16. “It’s very healthy for your body to absorb honey – there’s antimicrobial properties that create tryptophan (an essential amino acid that is necessary for making proteins) that help you calm down – and it’s quick to get to your brain.”

Leclair explained how a honey’s yellowy golden hue comes from the pollen on the plants the bees are foraging. For those living in West Michigan who are allergic to pollen, consuming trace amounts of the region’s honey helps build up immunity to the area’s pollen and will help with allergies.

“Bloody marys are on par with honey for me because they’re healthy and they solve a health problem: hangovers,” said Leclair. “When you have a hangover, blood sugar in your brain starts to deplete, which is what starts a hangover. It’s almost like inducing jet lag – you can’t sleep, you don’t feel good, and some people even get dizzy.”

In order to cure a hangover, you want to put nutrients back in your body, but the most important thing is putting sugar back in your brain, according to Leclair.

“A lot of people will do alcohol again because you’re literally putting sugar back in your system – and that’s where the alcohol comes in. If you’re not into alcohol, virgin bloody marys are a very healthy drink and by adding a honey to your bloody mary, you’re getting that sugar without the alcohol – but you can always double down and do it together.”

For the demonstration, Leclair used a dollop of Great Lakes Bee Co.’s infused Black Pepper Honey and mixed it in with her bloody mary concoction.

“I think this is the perfect thing to do for New Year’s Day because on New Year’s Eve, you’re out drinking all night and there’s a good chance you might not feel great on New Year’s morning,” said Leclair. “This is a perfect thing to put out for a New Year’s morning breakfast or brunch. But this is a very healthy drink – without the alcohol, of course – because you’re getting a lot of vitamins in your system.

“There’s a wide variety of bloody mary recipes, so go online and have some fun checking them out.”

How to make a Honey Bloody Mary

Start out with the basics:

  • Tomato juice
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Pepper
  • Alcohol (Vodka or Gin)

Add the Secret ingredient:

Spice it up with:

  • Horseradish
  • Hot sauce/Tobasco
  • Lemon juice

Salt the rim:

  • Lemon juice
  • Celery salt

Top it off with delicious skewered embellishments:

  • Cheeses
  • Meats
  • Olives
  • Pickles
  • Shrimp
  • Vegetables (tomatoes, celery, cucumber, celery)

Watch Genji Leclair’s full interview on Good Day Northern Michigan, here.