As Sweet as Authentic Montana Honey

"Honey is a 12 million dollar industry in Montana," my Montana legislator friend remarked in the midst of a discussion on cottage industries.   Montana isn't known for honey, but perhaps it should be.  The industry isn't huge, but as far as honey goes, Montana was second in dollars of honey sold only to North Dakota (South Dakota was a close 3rd).   Not only are sales high, it tastes pretty amazing too!

Employees pour honey into containers

If you like sweets, it is difficult not to like honey!  I recently toured Glacier County Honey Company during "Fill Your Own Bucket Day".  The process is pretty amazing and so is the honey.  The honey is transferred from the boxes you'll see in fields by simply pulling out the trays that are already in the boxes.  The trays are sealed with wax and put in a hot room.  They are then transferred to a couple pretty impressive machines that first pull all the honey and wax out of the trays and then separate the wax from the honey.  

Honey Bear and Glacier County Honey Co.

They make Christmas ornaments out of the wax and all the honey goes through a set of pipes and comes out of spicket-like piece of hardware on the wall, almost as if it is on-tap.  I was amazed that when I handed them my mason jar, they didn't get any honey on the lid.  In addition to the honey and wax products they sold their own blend of Montana Coffee Traders Coffee and they even had a delicious honey bar recipe!

Great idea for a tasty treat

From what I understand, honey varies greatly by the environment in which it is made so even within the Flathead or Glacier Country the taste of honey can vary significantly.  So this summer, try something Montana may not be well known for, but certainly should be: honey!

The process: start to finish

Glacier County Honey Company is located near Babb, MT and the Many Glacier entrance to Glacier National Park.  

Great Northern Honey Company is located in Columbia Falls, MT near the West Glacier entrance to Glacier National Park.

Both companies have a list of local retailers that sell their honey. Glacier County Honey Company sells directly to customers and can give you a tour if you stop by as well!