Apple Ridge Orchards — Attraction in Town of Warwick

This place seems awesome when you first arrive! But, we were almost instantly attacked by several of the millions of killer bees on the farm!

The problem is, after we had spent a little time there, we started to get the feeling that the people who own it and run it are just looking out for themselves and trying to make a quick buck. We walked away feeling like they were sheisters and we had been had.

I wouldn't have known any of this if my wife hadn't been with me. I grew up in the city but she grew up on a farm and a farm where they made honey (among other things). She's a pretty big honey expert. So, she was excited to buy a $12 bottle of their homemade honey but upon tasting it, she immediately shreiked, "It has SUGAR in it!" I said, "What?" She said, "They put sugar in this!" I first asked her how she knew, because honey is sweet so how could she tell whether it was sweet from honey or sugar!? She said, "I grew up on a farm, we made honey, believe me, I know." When we got home, she brought out a bottle of real honey and said, "taste the difference between these." I did and I could immediatley tell a big difference. She was right! They had added sugar. I also noticed, before my wife mentioned it, that the real honey was much thicker than the scam honey.

Basically, adding sugar is a way to water honey down (Google it - too complicated for me to explain here). So you use less honey, but you still fill up a bottle. It's a scam. It's a way of cheating people. It's a way of making an unfair profit. Honey isn't legally considered real honey if sugar or corn syrup have been added.

It's pretty sick that these people are playing on the ignorance of city people, such as myself, and selling us something we think is pure, all-natural, homegrown, honey and it's nothing of the sort. And of course they know it's not. But they also know - we'll never figure it out!

The second big problem was the killer bees. It's not really the bees themselves that were the real problem (even though I got stung), it's the fact they give you no warning about this before you drive up. There's not a word mentioned about it on their website and had we known, we would have taken precautions. As it was, we ended up there totally defenseless.

The package we purchased came with one doughnut per person. We were pointed over to the doughnut cabinet, a plexiglass case with a bunch of doughnuts in it - all the same flavor. I was pretty shocked to see several yellow jackets flying around INSIDE the case! We decided not to bother reaching in to get one.

A few minutes later I was stung by one of the killer jackets and that pretty much ended my day just 20 minutes after we arrived. It's not that the pain from the sting ended my day, it was just that I didn't want to keep walking around this place and risk getting stung again and again.

My main complaint though - isn't that they have bees but that they don't give you any warning about it beforehand and they are totally unprepared to deal with bee stings - even though their guests are stung all day long.

If they were responsible and actually cared about their guests, they would have a whole section on their site talking about the bees. They should also warn people who are allergic not to bother coming. They're putting people in real danger by not warning about this.

When I went into the shop to ask if they had ice the girl looked at me and said, "No. We don't have any ice." She handed me a sanitary wipe (like that's gonna help), and looked away like she couldn't care less. So, I said, "You must get a lot of these every day, huh?" She said, "ALL the time!"

So of course they know - and you'd think they might have ice or something there a little more effective than sanitary wipes. And if they cared, they'd at the very least mention it on their site so you can come prepared or not come at all.

It's really disgusting that they wouldn't even mention this... I write as my hand is still in pain and itching terribly, 30...

What happens when people rely solely on Google star reviews for businesses? One potential outcome, if you're planning a trip to Apple Ridge Orchards in Warwick, New York, may require the use of an EpiPen - the life-saving auto-injector device delivering a pre-measured dose of epinephrine in the event of an allergic reaction. Next questions: what does an EpiPen have to do with apple picking, and why would I journey an hour away from the metro area to subject myself and my family to (what should be) a harmless, autumnal activity?

Answer: Apple Ridge Orchards doesn't just produce apples; it also raises bees to produce and sell honey. Side-effects include a large population of bees on premises.

This weekend my family purchased a $29 half-bushel bag to pick-our-own apples at approximately 1:30pm. This was the ideal time to arrive at Apple Ridge, and parking was a cinch. There was a wait of maybe 5 minutes to buy the bag, and apple cider donuts were accessible while on the short line - paid $29 for the bag + $1 for each donut (in cash). Always bring cash to a farm; don't ever assume that a farm can accept plastic. As soon as I exited the farm stand, I took notice of the bees: they were everywhere.

There were bees in the donut case. There were bees in the refrigerator with the apple cider. There were bees in and around the apple bags. Bees surrounded all of the apple trees and hovered around pumpkin patches. There were children running from bees and babies swatting them away from strollers. Parents clung to their babes, and apples became afterthoughts. We scurried along paths of emptied trees, searching for our favorite winesap variety. The bees seemed to chase us from one end of the orchard to the other, targeting our heads as if to say, "you've got your bag, now get out!"

We safely made it into our vehicle, just in time to escape the striped snipers just outside of our power windows. Finally, navigating our way towards the exit, we witnessed what could've been the fate of any one of us during our brief time on the orchard: a young lad was stung in the wrist by a bee. Within seconds, two adults rushed to the boy's sides, and I could hear one person yell the question, "do you have the EpiPen?"

As we drove away, passing a newly formed lineup of parked cars - the 2:30pm Sunday rush - I couldn't help but remark to my wife, "boy, those apples look great," and "we got a lot for our money." However, the experience could've been really, really bad. What if one of my children were seriously affected? What if I were affected? And then I remembered the 4(+)-star review from Google...

Here's my advice: read the complete review before committing to the destination. I can't give Apple Ridge Orchards any more stars, because my family could not enjoy the experience - we'll never go back. The honey bees should be emphasized by the business on their site and on the Google business page. Bees are a necessary and integral part of the orchard's honey business. Unfortunately, where there are bees, there are bees. Call it nature... call it what you want. In the end, if you want to pick apples and peaches at this popular Warwick, New York orchard, you'll be wise to pack an EpiPen.

(No bees were harmed in the writing of...

Definitely will not be going back it was my second time there and I must say my second time was entirely different from my first. The first time it had a good time ppl were so nice the second time I was so disappointed. From the moment we arrived the ppl who worked there were so rude and to my surprise racist and judgmental. I went with a group of ppl from my community we went with our families and kids. My daughter and I went into the gift shop if you want to call it were they sold cider donuts potato chips etc. my family was hungry and we asked if they had food like they advertised and the response we got back was rude that even the manager said and I quote “Your not in the hood your in the country now “ I was like dude I know this we are from here I lived in beacon and my daughter just bought a house in Warwick and my other daughter lived in Chester as do my family I raised my kids in the country !! Aside from that my friend was in line waiting to by something and he took ppl from behind her and called them to the front they were white and my friend was black but the worst of it was when he accused my neighbor of stealing he literally called her a thief to her face because she had a bag of apples in different bag then they gave us to fill up not knowing she paid for all her apples plus bought there merch n spend about a hundred n more dollars there mind u my neighbor is a disabled women in a walker and instead of asking her he just quickly assumed n made judgments he not only embarrassed her as she was leaving he traumatized her all in all he and his adult staff treated us rudely and racist even though a big part of his staff were kids ages from like 10-13 they were nice but there kids anyway never going back and fyi our group was like 40 ppl and we paid for 70 ppl u think they wud be nice in response to you accusing several members not that is not true what happened was they were misinformed as to how many apples they were allowed to have your staff never told the group they could only fill the bag that was provided and we paid for 70 pumpkins and our entire group was less than that and each person took one pumpkin and of course you will deny ur actions and to say that my one star won’t effect your staff etc etc says a lot about your professionalism...