Galesburg Reporter

In a June 22 Facebook post, Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Aledo) drew attention to a Fulton County company's endeavor to harvest honey.

“Cool to see Farm Week Now highlighting Fulton County’s Hilltop Honey Co. and all they do for the area as a part of #NationalPollinatorWeek.’ 7,000 pounds of honey from just their spring harvest, wow,” Anderson said.

The Farm Week article highlights the work that Kyle and Cassi McCarthy are doing with their business, Hilltop Honey. They sell a variety of honey and other merchandise. In addition, the article said that they sold “about 100 bee nucs,” which are small colonies of bees. The publication said that winter losses of bees stand at about 60% each year, so the couple’s work is important.

Hilltop Honey started in 2015 as a hobby, allowing the couple to support pollinators and spend time outdoors. They outgrew their backyard operation and moved operations to a larger facility, where they operate hive-to-jar, and sell raw, unfiltered, honey produced in Central Illinois.

On the Hilltop Honey Facebook page, on June 9, the business shared a link to Spoon River Junction Winery, announcing the creation of a new “lightly hopped beer-strength mead,” made with honey from Hilltop Honey Company. This creation is called Lazy Hazy Honey Brew, and it’s only available during events, according to Spoon River Junction. The Spoon River Junction Facebook post reads: “Bee the first try to our brand new Lazy Hazy Honey Brew this weekend at Chico Welch + Nathan Taylor It is a lightly hopped, beer-strength mead made with Hilltop Honey Co.! Slightly sweet but slightly bitter too, with notes of honey, citrus, tropical fruit, it’ll taste delicious out on the newly updated #crushpadio with a pizza from Chef Kevin Cooks.”

Anderson has served the 47th District since 2015. The district now includes portions and or all of Adams, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Menard, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazwell, and Warren counties. When he's not serving the residents of the 47th District as a legislator in Springfield, Anderson is a firefighter/paramedic in Moline.