The tour is free but requires registration through the HCD.
Courtesy | Hillsdale Conservation District

The Hillsdale Conservation District will host a tour of J & D’s Honeybees on Oct. 5 from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

J & D’s Honeybees is located at 1791 E. Litchfield Road, Jonesville. 

The tour is part of a series of events run by the district to increase awareness of local farms and environmental projects, said Allison Grimm, a Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program technician for the Hillsdale Conservation District.

“This year, the Hillsdale Conservation District featured tours on maple syrup, pastured poultry, and forestry management,” Grimm said. “We also did an event on nutrient management, which is held every year in August.”

The events are free, but registration is required through the HCD.

“The idea of this workshop is to learn about extracting, processing, and bottling honey,” Grimm said. “Our smaller tours like this allow a very hands-on, personal experience about the topic or on the farm.” 

The tour is coordinated by the HCD and facilitated through the farm.

“We try to focus on farms that are environmentally verified in the county, as well as topics that are small-scale that people would like to learn about,” Grimm said.

J & D’s Honeybees farm owner Jesse Erwin said his wife, Ashley, will show the process of creaming honey while he takes smaller groups of people to tour the facilities.

“I will take groups of four to eight people to watch the honey extraction process,” Erwin said. “The extractor spins 33 frames to remove the honey, after which it settles. Then it is heated to be strained and taken to the bottling room.”

Attendants will receive samples from the farm including creamed honey with local apples, according to Erwin.

The Erwins make several types of creamed honey, including regular creamed honey as well as flavored creamed honey, such as lemon and cinnamon, that tour attendants can try.

J & D’s Honeybees was originally owned by Erwin’s parents, and Erwin now uses their barn, modeling room, and storage room for his own honey production and processing. He maintains 100 honeybees throughout Hillsdale County.

The HCD was founded after the Dust Bowl and is approaching its 80th anniversary, according to Grimm.

Those interested can register for the tour by emailing hillsdalecd@macd.org.