Honey Lodge honey is 100% pure, raw honey, harvested and processed locally by Lakota youth entrepreneurs on the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Reservation in South Dakota. The Lakota youth-led social enterprise is led by the Native non-profit, Lakota Youth Development. In 2015, Lakota youth leaders founded Honey Lodge to help bring Grandmother Earth back into balance with herself and to create a sustainable source of economic development for tribal youth on the reservation.
Honey Lodge honey is sold online and available at local Lakota events. All profits from Honey Lodge support Lakota youth trainings and apprenticeships. Visitors to Lakota country can stay at another Lakota Youth Development's enterprise, Tipi Stays. Guests can experience Lakota culture in the heart of the Rosebud Reservation and enjoy Lakota activities during their Tipi Stay. Cultural and recreational activities deepen cultural understanding of the Lakota people, their traditions, and the beautiful lands they call home. And visitors can also enjoy Honey Lodge honey!
Honey Lodge produces natural honey, a pure food which never spoils. Commercial operations honey is often super-heated to help prevent crystallization and to make it easier to pour in and out of jars or plastic containers. In larger factories, the heated honey becomes very fluid and this helps with ultra-fine filtering. This overly-processed honey is stripped of beneficial pollen, nutrients, and key enzymes which make honey what it normally is—a natural superfood. Honey Lodge doesn’t kill or remove those nutrients in the processing of their honey. It’s all there, the way the bees naturally make it.
Honey Lodge started off with three hives and has grown to more than fifty hives that are kept within the cultural campus and other nearby prairie lands. All the hives are kept, harvested, and processed by Lakota staff and youth as they package raw honey and natural beeswax products. These value-added products have been sold to more than forty-five states across the country through online sales and in-person events (pow wows, festivals, markets, etc.)
Honey Lodge started off with three hives and has grown to more than fifty hives that are kept within the cultural campus and other nearby prairie lands. All the hives are kept, harvested, and processed by Lakota staff and youth as they package raw honey and natural beeswax products. These value-added products have been sold to more than forty-five states across the country through online sales and in-person local Lakota events (pow wows, festivals, markets, etc.)