Welcome to the  Home of Sourwood Honey

Our  Honey Tent  at the Lexington Barbeque Festival

Honeybee Gathering Sourwood Nectar

 Our Sourwood Honey

Norton's Nut & Honey Farm
330 Irvin Street
Reidsville, NC  27320-3648
USA
Phone: 336-342-4490
Email: Carolinabeeman@bellsouth.net

Get FREE SOURWOOD HONEY

Check out Our 2007 Sourwood Honey Special below (on the right side of this webpage about 3/4 of the way down the right hand column: Buy 4 and get the fifth FREE!):

We Ship via USPS Priority Mail

Special Orders: Weddings & Gift Baskets

 

 HONEY  HISTORY

The 2007 Harvest

 It's HERE!!!

The harvest this year is the best that we have had in years. Our 2007 sourwood honey is lighter this year with a real buttery taste and a light twang! It is a really good tasting sourwood and I am so much enjoying it spread on my yellow cornbread!

I will add more to this webpage after I get caught up with all your orders that have been waiting for the 2007 crop, and I am still busy taking off sourwood supers.  We rare enjoying a bountiful crop which helps to make up for the 2007 Easter Freeze which hurt both our spring honey and queen rearing business.

 I really want to thank all my wonderful customers who continue to order our sourwood honey, Thank you so very much! -Chuck Norton

From Our Surry County Yard, Late June

HONEY  HISTORY

- Our Sourwood Honey,  2001 

2001 was an excellent year for sourwood honey; it was light in color and and filled our supers almost as fast as we put them on. It was good honey and it was a very good year.

- Our Sourwood Honey,  2002

Every year brings a sourwood honey that is slightly different; 2002 was no exception as we went through an extremely dry summer with drought conditions resulting in a heavier sourwood flavor and a honey that was a light amber in color - slightly darker than normal but it was a very good year!

 - Our Sourwood Honey,  2003

The 2003 Sourwood Honey  crop failed all over sourwood country; we sold with acknowledgement our 2002 sourwood honey until we ran out. 

 - Our Sourwood Honey,  2004

Most reports are in and the quality of the 2004 crop is only a little better than what very little was harvested in 2003. In some places there was the repeat of last year's total crop failure.  We are averaging less than a 25 pounds of sourwood honey per hive with some yards having only a couple of capped frames per hive. The honey that we harvested was darker than normal, had a tendency to crystallize when stored, but still had a wonderful sourwood flavor!  

 

- Our Sourwood Honey,  2005

Our 2005 Sourwood Honey has a fine delicate spicy and buttery flavor with that characteristic sourwood twang aftertaste that folks know so very well. The quality of the honey is very high this year, one of the best; however, most folks that I have talked with have had lower than normal yields. We are fortunate that our sourwood outyards were spread over 5 counties and our stainless steel storage tanks are still quite full despite lower than normal sourwood honey yields. One good outyard can make up for the others. We welcome back our returning customers and we certainly wish for our new visitors to try our sourwood honey from the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

The 2006 Harvest

The 2006 harvest of sourwood honey throughout most of Sourwood Country was below expectations with only a very few beekeepers in exceptional locations able to obtain a high quality sourwood honey due to a late elderberry bloom.

- Our Sourwood Honey,  2006

Fortunately, a few of our sourwood yards( apiaries) did yield a high quality sourwood honey. The 2006 sourwood honey that we have to sell is indeed a quality sourwood honey with excellent taste and color. I think that it is better than last year’s sourwood honey and I hope that you will enjoy it too!

Most of the honey harvested throughout Sourwood Country was without the characteristic sourwood twang and the color was darker and redder than anytime that I can remember. Over 75%  of our sourwood honey was given back to our bees for winter stores. We gave it back rather than sell it wholesale or retail because although it was legally sourwood honey it just did not have the full taste and was of a darker and redder color that our customers expect and deserve. Had we sold it wholesale in bulk it would have most likely ended up in jars labeled "Sourwood Honey". Legally it may very well be labeled as sourwood honey; however, most honest beekeepers would never claim it as theirs. Always buy your sourwood honey from a real sourwood honey beekeeper, there are a few of us around all over Sourwood Country.

 

July 24, 2006. We have started pulling our 2006 Crop, after another week or so we should be able to appraise our yield and quality of this year's harvest.

June 8, 2006. We are busy extracting our spring honey to empty our honey supers so that our hives can be carried up to Wilkes, Surry, Stokes, and Rockingham counties just after the sourwood bloom starts. Timing is critical too soon the bees will hit the sumac, too late and we miss the start of the flow. Let's hope that we have a great year!

 

   

Norton's Nut & Honey Farm Goodness Grows             

Please feel free to come back periodically for another report, the bloom is finished and we will continue to report on all our extracting and shipping operations, seasonal honey specials, and where our honey tent will be as 2006 Fall Festival season in North Carolina approaches.

 

{Native range of Oxydendrum arboreum} The Native Range of Sourwood  

- Sourwood Country -

  Left to Right: 24 oz. 8 oz. 12 oz 16 oz. 40 oz.

 

 

 

We are currently out of our 2007 Sourwood Honey. You are welcome to put in your request with an email to reserve our 2008 when it is available in August.

 

 

Welcome to SourwoodHoney.com, Home to Real Sourwood Honey.

Welcome to the home of sourwoodhoney.com, where you can purchase sourwood honey from North Carolina's Sourwood Country, "Real Sourwood Honey, Sourwood Honey just as pure as our bees can make it! " . Our Sourwood Honey is never blended; and, it's straight from a real North Carolina Sourwood Honey Beekeeper. Here at sourwoodhoney.com we have a name to live up to: Sourwood Honey! 

 


I am a full-time commercial North Carolina beekeeper and my honey bees produce the very rare and wonderful naturally aromatic, buttery, smooth and flavorful SOURWOOD HONEY that we harvest, pack and sell. Our SOURWOOD  yards, or apiaries, are carefully selected for their ability to produce maximum yields of top quality sourwood honey. We now have our sourwood yards in over four North Carolina counties and we border two Virginia counties in the very heart of the Sourwood Country of the Blue Ridge mountains. Needless to say, our honeybees produce some of the finest Sourwood Honey in the World.  I hope that this will be your home for sourwood honey too!

About sourwoodhoney.com & Norton's Nut & Honey Farm-Chuck Norton:

But, it takes more than just hives of bees to produce the finest sourwood honey available, it takes expertise, critical timing, planning, and attention to detail in the beeyard and in the honey house to make quality sourwood honey. Our Sourwood Honey is taken only from the foothills above1300 feet elevation and  the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. We put on our Sourwood Honey supers just as the sourwood trees start flowering. We take off our Sourwood Honey supers at the end of the bloom. This assures a quality product and a very high concentration of Sourwood Honey. All our honey is processed in the same manner with the same amount of attention and care.


About Our Processing Operations:

We provide all our mail order customers with what we believe to be  top quality SOURWOOD HONEY that is never heated nor filtered and is packed and delivered to your mailbox just for you. Our wholesale and retail operations are handled in the same manner. We use only stainless steel and food grade plastics in our de-capping, extracting, clarifying, straining, and storage processes. We have a dedicated sanitary facility for packing and processing our honey under inspection by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Apiary Services. Our honey is bottled to order, which brings you the freshest quality, flavors and aroma possible. 

I am an engineer and have worked for such high tech companies as Hughes Aircraft and Ford Aerospace; there I learned the values of quality control and responsibility to the customer. These same concepts of quality are built into all our operations from hive assembly and management to bottling and packaging our quality products. We truly strive to produce the finest and highest quality sourwood honey possible for our customers.

Our gentle method of processing our Sourwood Honey is preferred by honey purists and is often called RAW HONEY. Raw honey is the best most flavorful honey that you can buy!  Raw honey is strained, never filtered, never heated; and there truly is a difference. Our sourwood honey is  brought to you with a minimum of processing; yet it is a beautiful brilliant honey with all the natural fla
vor and characteristics  that you would expect. There truly is a difference in our sourwood honey! Once you try our sourwood honey you will want more, and your friends will want some too: Sourwood honey that is "Real Sourwood Honey, Sourwood Honey just as pure as our bees can make it !"   

You can find OUR HONEY here, on the Internet by Mail Order, and at these fine stores:

In North Carolina:  Richard's Meats & Things, Reidsville; Steve's Garden Market, Graham;  A&S Natural Health, Winston Salem; A&S Natural Health, Greensboro (Guilford College);  Sadie's Scarecrow, Stokesdale, NC;  The Killarney House Inn, Hendersonville, and Nature's Emporium, Burlington and Williams Hardware in Morehead City, NC. Our newest instate retail outlet is Maters & Taters in Madison North Carolina on NC HWY 704 just down from the Big Flag west of US 220.

Elsewhere: Calhoun Lumber, Calhoun, GA; and the Green House Grocery, Longwood, FL Our newest out of state retail outlet is  Jams, Jellies, Nuts & More at the Smoky Mountain Craft Center in Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

Our "HONEY TENT" will return to the 2007 Eden Apple  Festival and The Lexington Barbeque Festival in October 2007. You all come taste our wonderful honey!

You can also visit our site sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: http://www.agr.state.nc.us/NCproducts/ShowSite.asp?ID=2111
(Watch the wrap!) which  will take you to our North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services General Store website where you can find more information on all varieties of our wonderful honey.

We are proud to be a member of Goodness Grows In North Carolina.  

When you read about the health benefits of naturally produced raw honey consider purchasing our SOURWOOD HONEY, honey that is produced right here in North Carolina's mountains and foothills from Norton's Nut & Honey Farm with the utmost attention and care.

We have harvested our sourwood honey from our hives in Sourwood Country. Mother nature and our bees have once again produced the finest tasting honey on Earth, sourwood honey. Again, this year's harvest is rather small in volume; however, the taste is delicate and superb.  We must not forget that this is a true farm; and, despite our meager efforts its up to the weather, the trees, and the bees to make a crop.  I personally believe that it is far more than just that, for the Lord has given us many wonderful gifts; and,  we should be happy with His blessings.


Photos & Maps Above

The upper middle photo,  A Honeybee Gathering Sourwood Nectar, requires careful review as the raceme in the middle demonstrates the Cycle of the Sourwood Bloom: The first flowers to open are closest to the branch, the last at the end of the racemes; after the flower has been pollinated it will slowly turn upwards and allow the seeds inside to ripen. When ripe, the seed head will open allowing  birds to feed upon the tiny seeds inside which by their position do not fall out as the seed head is standing upright 180 degrees from the flower! You can witness all this in the photograph. The photo on the top right is of one of our yards at the bottom of the Blue Ridge. The photo on the top left was taken at the 2003 Lexington NC Barbeque Festival with my son, now a rising senior at East Carolina University State University manning the Honey Tent.  Other photographs are of our sourwood outyards in Sourwood Country. The  map on the bottom left  is from the US Forrest Service,  authored by Ronald P. Overton and can be found with full text at: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/oxydendrum/arboreum.htm , the webpage gives the native range, characteristics and habitat of the sourwood tree, Ericaceae Oxydendrum arboreum.

Ordering & Shipping Our Sourwood Honey

Ordering our Sourwood Honey: 
You may order our Sourwood Honey from Norton's Nut and Honey Farm-Chuck Norton now if you wish by following the directions below and sending us a check in the US Mail or you can make your purchase online using PAYPAL. Some folks without computers have called me on the phone and have asked if they can order sourwood honey too. For those folks I am glad to print a copy of this web page and mail it to them so they will have the time to read all about our operations and how we make our sourwood honey. And, of course we can discuss pricing on the phone if you wish; but, I can not take charge cards over the phone; that's what PayPal is all about. If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail us at carolinabeeman@bellsouth.net   or call us at 336 342 4490 after 7:30 pm EST. We really want you to feel that you are dealing with real people and not just a computer screen. In most cases we are hundreds of miles apart but I hope that you feel that you are standing across the counter in an old country store. Your business is really important to us and we want serve you, our customer. And we truly wish for you, your friends and your family to enjoy real sourwood honey that has never been blended with other honey or mixed with any thing. "Real Sourwood Honey, Sourwood Honey just as pure as our bees can make it!".  Indeed, you are getting the best sourwood honey possible!

Shipping your Sourwood Honey: Since we bottle, pack and ship to your specific order we schedule one day a week to bottle and another to pack and ship; this helps to keep us efficient.   We will confirm receipt of your mailed order by email if requested; please include your email address along with your order.   Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, to sell our sourwood honey to customers all over the world!


MAIL ORDER SOURWOOD HONEY PRICES:

All containers below contain our raw strained sourwood honey and are clear plastic with either a white plastic screw cap with  foam cap seal or a yellow re-closeable cap with foam cap seal. 

Our 2007 Sourwood Honey Prices:
 
Net Weight:     8 oz.       12 oz.       16 oz.       24 oz.       40 oz.   

Prices:           $ 4.00     $ 5.75        $ 7.50     $ 10.00      $15.00  

 

 

The 2007 Sourwood Honey Special

Buy 4 each, all of one size of our sourwood honey at the regular price, and get the fifth  jar of the same size of sourwood honey absolutely FREE; and, you pay only for shipping and handling on the first 4 of the 5 jars.  

Example #1: Buy four (4) each of our 8 ounce clear plastic jars of sourwood honey at $4.00 each; total net weight is 32 ounces or 2 pounds; cost is $16.00 for the honey plus $7.15 S&H or $23.15 TOTAL.  The fifth 8 ounce jar of sourwood honey with shipping is FREE.

Example #2: Buy four (4) each of our 12 ounce clear plastic jars of sourwood honey at $5.75 each; total net weight is 48 ounces or 3 pounds; cost is $23.00 for the honey  plus $9.35 S&H or $32.35 TOTAL.  The fifth 12 ounce jar of sourwood honey with shipping is FREE.

Example #3: Buy four (4) each of our 16 ounce clear plastic jars of sourwood honey at $7.50 each; total net weight is 64 ounces or 4 pounds; cost is $30.00 for the honey plus $11.55 S&H or $41.55 TOTAL.  The fifth 16 ounce jar of sourwood honey with shipping is FREE.

Example #4: Buy four (4) each of our 24 ounce clear plastic jars of sourwood honey at $10.00 each; cost is $40.00 for the honey plus Shipping and Handling on 6 pounds, $15.45 S&H, or $55.45 TOTAL.  The fifth 24 ounce jar of sourwood honey  with shipping is FREE.

Example #5: Buy four (4) each of our 40 ounce clear plastic jars of sourwood honey at $15.00 each; cost is $60.00 for the honey plus $23.05  S&H or $83.05 TOTAL.  The fifth 40 ounce jar of sourwood honey with shipping  is FREE.

 

 

 

SHIPPING & HANDLING INFORMATION


Shipping & Handling is based on net weight, the weight of the honey that you purchase, not the total weight of the shipment (plastic containers only).

New S&H Prices will become Effective August 31, 2007 due to the USPS postal increase of last spring. Please note: Current published S&H prices are highlighted below in yellow.

The cost of S&H after August 30th  is $5.35 for the first pound (16 ounces), over 16 ounces please add $2.75 for each additional pound to 3 pounds, for over 3 pounds please add $1.90 per pound up to and including 9 pounds, and $1.25 per pound thereafter (USPS Priority Mail® only). We ship Priority Mail® and these prices are good for all USPS Priority Mail. I will update all examples and graphics upon final publication of the new rates.

We do ship all over the World. If you wish we will ship via USPS Parcel Post or Express Mail®, please advise.   Insurance charges when requested are extra.

Calculations of some Shipping and Handling Charges via USPS Priority Mail:

(OLD PRICES: They are still Current )

1 each 8 ounce jar,  or 1 each 12 ounce jar, or 1 each 16 ounce jar or 2 each 8 ounce jars = $ 4.95 S&H.                            

Any weight over 1 pound (16 ounces)  to 2 pounds: $4.95 + $2.20 = $7.15 S&H.            

Any weight over 2 pounds (32 ounces)  to 3 pounds: $4.95 +2($2.20) = $9.35 S&H

Any weight over 3 pounds (48 ounces)  to 4 pounds: $4.95 +3($2.20) = $11.55 S&H.

Any weight over 4 pounds (64 ounces)  to 5 pounds: $4.95 +3($2.20) +$1.95 = $13.50 S&H.  

Any weight over 5 pounds (80 ounces)  to 6 pounds: $4.95 +3($2.20) +2($1.95) = $15.45 S&H.

Any weight over 6 pounds (96 ounces)  to 7 pounds (112 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 3($1.95) = $17.40 S&H.

Any weight over 7 pounds (112 ounces) to 8 pounds (128 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 4($1.95) = $19.35 S&H.

Any weight over 8 pounds (128 ounces) to 9 pounds (144 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 5($1.95) = $21.30 S&H.

Any weight over 9 pounds (144 ounces) to 10 pounds (160 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 5($1.95) + 1($1.75) = $23.05 S&H.

Any weight over 10 pounds (160 ounces)  to 11 pounds (176 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 5($1.95) + 2($1.75) = $24.80 S&H.

Any weight over 11 pounds (176 ounces)  to 12 pounds ( 192 ounces): $4.95 +3($2.20) + 5($1.95) + 3($1.75) = $26.55 S&H.

For weights over 12 pounds ( 192 ounces) please inquire.

Methods For Payment
You may send us a check or a money order for the total including S&H in the mail, or you may use your credit card to purchase our honey
through the services of  PayPal, https://www.paypal.com

You can pay directly by crediting my email account, carolinabeeman@bellsouth.net with your PayPal payment..  You will need to fill out the additional PayPal "Shipping Address:" information.  Note: This is because PayPal does not give out any private information including addresses and credit card numbers of customers simply filling out your Name and Address at the beginning of the process does not help me since PayPal will not give out any PRIVATE Customer Information. For shipments to multiple addresses you need to contact me directly by e-mail  or call me on the phone, 336 342 4490, with your request. I am easiest to reach in the evening as I work outside most of the day. It helps to leave a message along with your phone number and say it twice so my old ears might be able to hear what you are saying.  For safety and security reasons I do not take credit card orders over the phone.

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREDIT CARD PURCHASES WITH PAYPAL:

 Visa  Mastercard  Discover  American Express  eCheck
Official PayPal Seal If you wish to pay by credit card or eCHECK, PAYPAL is available; just send an email to carolinabeeman@bellsouth.net  requesting that you wish to pay by PAYPAL and give the specifics of your purchase. I will in return send to you an e-mail with a breakdown of all charges (Honey and S&H) with a PAYPAL "button" specifically tailored to your purchase that will allow you to make your payment on-line in a secure environment with the folks at PAYPAL. No one at Norton's Nut & Honey Farm will see your personal credit card number, only confirmation of your paid order. We hope that you will always feel comfortable when you order our honey, either by sending your check in the mail or using the services of PayPal. 

 

 

I am always glad to answer any questions or concerns as well as help calculate your order. This is basically a one man operation and I am just sorry that I can't be there face to face to help you.

Please note that from now to the end of July  we are really busy with our honey bees trying to build up their numbers and doing all the things necessary preparing for the spring honey flow and the sourwood honey flow.  Without our honey bees there would be no honey therefore we will only be packing and shipping our honey once a week during this period. If you are missing your honey in the mail please be patient. Also if you wish don't be afraid to send and inquiry by email; I will try to answer back as soon as possible. Sometimes it will be a couple of days before I can get back home from my bee yards in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina but I will get eventually get back to you, thanks for understanding. This is real farming and our livestock are my honey bees.

Example #1 (Regular Prices): One (1) each of  our 8 ounce, 16 ounce, and 24 ounce clear plastic jars of our Sourwood Honey: ($4.00 + $7.50 + $10.00) = $21.50.  Now add shipping and handling by calculating total weight:  8 ounce, 16 ounce, and 24 ounce jars together total 48 ounces or 3 pounds.) Shipping and handling for 3 pounds is $4.90 + 2($2.20) = $9.35. Your final cost is calculated by adding the honey total to the shipping and handling total: $21.50 (honey)+ $9.35 (shipping and handling) = $30.85.

Thank you in advance for your order.

Some folks are asking for our wildflower honey to be added to this site. We have listened and shortly we will add our fall and spring  wildflower honey pricing on an adjacent web page until then please go to: .Norton's Nut & Honey Farm Goodness Grows  

We are open to selling our sourwood and wildflower honey to retail establishments all over the USA and Canada, call us to set up a wholesale account for our honey.

Now you know a little bit about myself, my honey bees, and the operation. I wanted to make this and my other websites different from most.  In my opinion there is a lot missing with websites that just show a pretty picture and ask you to select a button.  I enjoy people and I take pride in my operation and always try to produce my very best. I hope that you will try my sourwood honey and that you will visit some of my other websites if you are looking for additional varieties of wonderful tasting aromatic raw honey never blended, and never filtered- only strained honey. Thank you for your patience while we are building our new sourwood honey website; we will include different styles and types of containers for our sourwood honey as time goes by and will have more detail as to selection, thanks for the visit.

Sincerely,

Charles J. "Chuck" Norton


Norton's Nut & Honey Farm - Chuck Norton
330 Irvin Street
Reidsville, NC 27320


Dated: June 28, 2008; 12:01 EST; Copyright © 2004 - 2008©  Norton's Nut & Honey Farm-Chuck Norton