Chinook Arch Meadery — Local services in Alberta

This past summer we decided to head out for a drive. We headed out towards Okotoks then headed west towards the mountains. I spotted a sign off the side of the highway for the Chinook Honey farm. It's a short drive south off the main highway. Take a right turn and your there. We made it just in time for the honeybee tour. Its 10 dollars for adults and 7 for kids. They take you into another building opposite the store. Once inside, the girl fills you with a whole bunch of knowledge about bees. I myself never thought it was so intricate a process to make honey. The tour was very informative, and the other people on the tour didn't ask alot of questions. As a result didnt last long. After that we headed back into the store where we did a wine tasting. You get to try at least a half dozen types of wine all made with honey. I myself like sweeter wines, and that seemed to be what these wines were. The wines had different combinations with items such as blueberries and ginger etc. The store also carries other honey related items e.g. icecream with maple and honey, bee pollen pills and everything in between. If you've never been, then IMO is worth a quick trip out. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Oh, and we went home with 4 bottles of honey wine, a honey and beeswax candy/treat and ice cream all for about $95.

Oh yeah one more thing I learned today is that they get honey bees imported from New Zealand. Who...

I was buying creamed honey from chinook honey for the last 5 years. About 3 months ago I purchased a 1kg container of creamed honey. When I went to use it the texture and product was not the same as previous purchases. It was dry and flaky and would not spread like a creamed honey should. I took the honey back to chinook and was told they had a bad batch and that I needed to put the container in boiled water. I did this but it still did not make a difference to the matter of the honey. I took the honey back for a second time and was told by their employee Pat that by her own admission, they had a bad batch of creamed honey that they send to another place to have it prepared. They offered me another container of the same batch of honey, but why would I want the same as what I bought. She offered it to me in two different sizes but in my opinion, I am getting the same product I am returning.I explained that I wanted my money back and I would return to buy creamed honey when they had a new batch. Pat became hesitant stating she did not know how to give me a refund. At this point I became frustrated and left without any resolution. In the end I felt it necessary to inform others, in my opinion, they have a deficient product of of multi flowered creamed honey , in all sizes and would rather keep selling it, rather than do what most businesses would do, take it off...

Stopped in because I had an idea for a parting gift that I dreamed up on short notice because it was for my brother's funeral and he used to keep bees on his property. Sheri helped me get the quantity and type of honey (raw creamed) that I needed for my project and she was also able to give me the jars that I wanted too. I asked Sheri if she could make some button stickers (the ones that go on top of the lids) with a specific image printed on them and she came through for me on that too! My technique for getting a lot of jars filled quickly was to put the honey into a Ziploc bag and pipe the honey into the jars as if I was icing cupcakes.

They have a really cool place in the store that you can sit and watch bees working on a comb behind plexiglass. The comb is connected to the outside by short tubes and you can see the bees coming and going. I would totally recommend Chinook Honey Company to anyone.

It isn't very far off of Highway 2 south of Okotoks and it is...