GLEN AUBREY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Today’s Food and Farm Showcase takes us to a cattle farm that recently started a side hustle of making honey.

Well, it’s actually the bees that make Black Dog Honey. However, Co-Owners Scott and Julie Henry harvest and bottle the honey and tend to the hives. They currently have 40 hives spread across five apiaries at McRae Farm in Glen Aubrey which they are also partners in. The goal is to eventually build up to 100 hives.

Their raw, filtered honey is harvested twice a year with the summer producing a lighter blend than the fall variety. Black Dog Honey also sells fresh pollen, bee’s wax and propolis, which is a dark resin-like substance made from tree sap that bees use to build their hives.

Julie says many customers consume some of their products every day in order to stay healthy.

“It’s local to the area so anybody with allergies to the area, eating the local raw honey is good for you. Helps build up the immunity to the allergies,” said Julie.

Julie says she enjoys working with the bees more than she thought she would. Scott says it turns out to be more work than he expected. He’s concerned about the impact of pesticides on the bee population. He says they require regular care.

“Maybe not once a week, but once every other week check them all and make sure the health is all good. Mites are a big problem, moths are a big problem. Skunks in your apiary trying to eat your bees. You’ve got to keep on top of it year-round,” said Scott.

The honey was named after their black German Shepherd Mabel who, for the record, doesn’t much care for the bees.

All of the Black Dog Honey products are available every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the McRae stand at the Broome County Regional Farmers Market on Upper Front Street, as well as both local Taste New York stores.