CHAMPAIGN – The Center for Honeybee Research gave Curtis Orchard in Champaign the award last week, and the farm also took the top prize in the Central United States.
Curtis Orchard & Pumpkin Patch beat out international entries from Italy, Israel and many others to take home the grand prize.
The downstate agri-tourism destination’s entry in the Black Jar Honey Contest also received the top prize in the Central U.S. for the second straight year. The fourteen-state region is defined as all states within the Mississippi River watershed and includes Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Complete contest results and more information about the contest can be found here.
The award-winning entry of honey was extracted and submitted by Curtis Orchard’s managing beekeeper Rachel Coventry, who sends in the entry each year. Coventry is the granddaughter of Curtis Orchard founder Paul Curtis and the daughter of co-owner Randy Graham. She’s also the tourism destination’s store manager.
Curtis Orchard’s honey comes from an apiary located on the farm’s property in southwest Champaign. Coventry says the unique mix of pollen and nectar sources in the area, including the apple trees, pumpkins and wildflowers on the property, contribute to the award-winning honey.
“Our honeybees stay close to the hive whenever possible, but may fly up to three miles if food sources become scarce, so having all of these pollen sources available to our bees makes for a rich and complex-tasting honey found nowhere else,” Coventry explains.
Curtis Orchard opens for its 38th season on July 20 and will feature Coventry’s honey.
