Our Honey

There are many different ways to raise bees and harvest honey. Each beekeeper has their own unique style of beekeeping and preparing honey. Below we describe what makes Dunsmore Honey special.

Homegrown honey from our farm

We sell honey straight from our homestead in rural New Braunfels, TX to you. We do not sell honey from other locations or producers. Our customers know exactly where the honey comes from – our homestead in the Texas Hill Country.

Is pure, raw, and unfiltered

We only sell pure, raw, and unfiltered honey. The honey goes from the hives to the jar with minimal processing and no heat or pumping. We avoid methods used by larger honey companies which can adulterate the honey and remove or destroy the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics that give honey its great taste and medicinal value. Our raw honey is handled with great care to avoid contamination or defects. We never pasteurize, ultra-filter, or add anything to the honey when it is packaged. Read more about what the labels pure, raw, and unfiltered mean.

Is more than a sweetener…

It is medicinal food. Evidence is mounting that honey has several medicinal properties (i.e. antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-tumor, and gastroprotective). Our honey was tested and observed to have biologically active compounds with “very strong” antibacterial activity. It was comparable to medical grade honey and performed well above raw honey purchased at local grocery stores. Read more about the study here.

Responsibly harvested

The health and well-being of the bee colonies is our main priority. When we harvest honey, we take only surplus honey from the hives and leave enough honey for each colony to stay healthy. Honey contains vital nutrients that bees need to thrive. When beekeepers remove too much honey at harvest time, they must feed the bees sugar syrup. As a result, bee colonies become malnourished, require chemical treatments to help with pest problems, and have lower survival rates in the long term. We raise healthy bee colonies that have the nutrition they need to combat pests and pathogens year after year.

We are chemical-free, treatment-free beekeepers

We do not chemically treat our hives. We never use pesticides, antibiotics, oils, or acids in the apiary. These chemicals are commonly used in the beekeeping industry to handle pest problems such as mites, hive beetles, and wax moths. Unfortunately, they can contaminate honey and wax, pollute the environment, and be harmful to bees and humans. We work hard to keep these chemicals out of our apiary and out of our products.

Nectar, pollen, and honeydew from the Texas Hill Country

Our bees forage in some of the most incredibly diverse and beautiful land in Texas. They are surrounded by hundreds of acres of native pasture and forest in the ecoregion known as Balcones Canyonlands. The apiary is located at our homestead in New Braunfels, Texas (outside city limits), west of I-35, by the intersection of Purgatory Rd. and 306.

Our honey can have a different color, aroma, taste, flavor, and texture each time we harvest. Which plants are abundant and preferred by the bees during nectar flow, affect the honey harvest. The sun, wind, rainfall, temperature, minerals, soil, and soil pH can affect the plants, thereby affecting honey harvest as well.

Below is an image of plants that we have located and identified within our bees’ forage zone. As you can see, there are several different kinds of herbaceous plants, grasses, shrubs, and trees. Our bees may collect nectar, honeydew, pollen, and propolis from a large variety of plants to make a rich and complex honey.

Common name	Genus species	Family
Rusty Blackhaw	Viburnum rufidulum	Adoxaceae
Drummond’s Rain Lily	Zephyranthes drummondii	Amaryllidaceae
Drummond’s Onion	Allium drummondii	Amaryllidaceae
Prairie Flameleaf Sumac	Rhus lanceolata	Anacardiaceae
Evergreen Sumac	Rhus virens	Anacardiaceae
Hackberry Petiole Gall Psyllid	Pachypsylla venusta	Aphalaridae
Coriander	Coriandrum sativum	Apiaceae
Common Hedge Parsley	Torilis arvensis	Apiaceae
Prairie Bishop	Bifora americana	Apiaceae
Dill	Anethum graveolens	Apiaceae
Pearl Milkweed	Matelea reticulata	Apocynaceae
Antelopehorns	Asclepias asperula ssp. capricornu	Apocynaceae
Yaupon Holly	Ilex vomitoria	Aquifoliaceae
Twisted-Leaf Yucca	Yucca rupicola	Asparagaceae
Buckley’s Yucca	Yucca constricta	Asparagaceae
Common Dandelion	Taraxacum officinale	Asteraceae
Woolly White	Hymenopappus scabiosaeus	Asteraceae
Santa Maria Feverfew	Parthenium hysterophorus	Asteraceae
Engelmann Daisy	Engelmannia peristenia	Asteraceae
Straggler Daisy	Calyptocarpus vialis	Asteraceae
Texas Skeleton Plant	Lygodesmia texana	Asteraceae
Stemmy Four-nerve Daisy	Tetraneuris scaposa	Asteraceae
False Dandelion	Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus	Asteraceae
Black-eyed Susan	Rudbeckia hirta	Asteraceae
Indian Blanket	Gaillardia pulchella	Asteraceae
White Rock-Lettuce	Pinaropappus roseus	Asteraceae
Golden Wave Tickseed	Coreopsis basalis	Asteraceae
Dotted Blazing Star	Liatris punctata var. nebraskana	Asteraceae
Texas Creeping-Oxeye	Wedelia texana	Asteraceae
Texas Thistle	Cirsium texanum	Asteraceae
Flathead Rabbit Tobacco	Diaperia prolifera	Asteraceae
Upright Prairie Coneflower	Ratibida columnifera	Asteraceae
Prickly Sowthistle	Sonchus asper	Asteraceae
Agarita	Berberis trifoliolata	Berberidaceae
Blue Curls	Phacelia congesta	Boraginaceae
Borage	Borago officinalis	Boraginaceae
Pasture Heliotrope	Euploca tenella	Boraginaceae
Fringed Puccoon	Lithospermum incisum	Boraginaceae
Wall-Rockets	Diplotaxis	Brassicaceae
Texas Prickly-Pear	Opuntia engelmannii	Cactaceae
Lace Hedgehog Cactus	Echinocereus reichenbachii	Cactaceae
Bluejacket	Tradescantia ohiensis	Commelinaceae
False Dayflower	Tinantia anomala	Commelinaceae
Whitemouth Dayflower	Commelina erecta	Commelinaceae
False Dayflower	Tinantia anomala	Commelinaceae
Texas Persimmon	Diospyros texana	Ebenaceae
Texas Stillingia	Stillingia texana	Euphorbiaceae
Prairie Tea	Croton monanthogynus	Euphorbiaceae
Scarlet Pea	Indigofera miniata	Fabaceae
Two-leaved Senna	Senna roemeriana	Fabaceae
Lindheimer’s Senna	Senna lindheimeriana	Fabaceae
Pink Mimosa	Mimosa borealis	Fabaceae
Catclaw Mimosa	Mimosa aculeaticarpa	Fabaceae
Mesquite	Prosopis juliflora	Fabaceae
Peacock Flower	Caesalpinia pulcherrima	Fabaceae
Texas Bluebonnet	Lupinus texensis	Fabaceae
Sensitive Plants	Mimosa	Fabaceae
Escarpment Live Oak	Quercus fusiformis	Fagaceae
Lady Bird’s Centaury	Zeltnera texensis	Gentianaceae
Mountain Pink	Zeltnera beyrichii	Gentianaceae
Texas Stork’s Bill	Erodium texanum	Geraniaceae
Carolina Crane’s-Bill	Geranium carolinianum	Geraniaceae
Strict Blue-eyed Grass	Sisyrinchium montanum	Iridaceae
Prairie Bur	Krameria lanceolata	Krameriaceae
Common Thyme	Thymus vulgaris	Lamiaceae
Autumn Sage	Salvia greggii	Lamiaceae
Mealy Sage	Salvia farinacea	Lamiaceae
Skullcaps	Scutellaria	Lamiaceae
Small Skullcap	Scutellaria parvula	Lamiaceae
Lemon Beebalm	Monarda citriodora	Lamiaceae
Lilac Chaste Tree	Vitex agnus-castus	Lamiaceae
Slender Hedeoma	Hedeoma acinoides	Lamiaceae
Woolly Hedgenettle	Stachys byzantina	Lamiaceae
Berlandier’s Yellow Flax	Linum berlandieri	Linaceae
Pomegranate	Punica granatum	Lythraceae
Chisos Mountains False Indianmallow	Allowissadula holosericea	Malvaceae
Rose Pavonia	Pavonia lasiopetala	Malvaceae
Pineapple Guava	Acca sellowiana	Myrtaceae
Pinkladies	Oenothera speciosa	Onagraceae
Stemless Evening Primrose	Oenothera triloba	Onagraceae
Texas Paintbrush	Castilleja indivisa	Orobanchaceae
Upright Yellow Woodsorrel	Oxalis stricta	Oxalidaceae
Splitleaf Gilia	Giliastrum incisum	Polemoniaceae
Shrubby Milkwort	Rhinotropis lindheimeri	Polygalaceae
Coral Bells	Antigonon leptopus	Polygonaceae
Wild Blue Larkspur	Delphinium carolinianum	Ranunculaceae
Common Dewberry	Rubus flagellaris	Rosaceae
Common Hoptree	Ptelea trifoliata	Rutaceae
Western Soapberry	Sapindus drummondii	Sapindaceae
Texas Sage	Leucophyllum frutescens	Scrophulariaceae
Cedar Elm	Ulmus crassifolia	Ulmaceae
Texas Vervain	Verbena halei	Verbenaceae
Dakota Mock Vervain	Glandularia bipinnatifida	Verbenaceae
Wild Grapes	Rhoicissus	Vitaceae
Sorrelvine	Cissus trifoliata	Vitaceae