Milk

We source our milk from a single dairy about 10 miles west of the creamery. Fresh milk arrives every morning on cheesemaking days. It's been this way since we opened our doors in 2005.

The Wadeland Dairy’s herd is a mix of Jersey and Holstein cows whose creamy, high-quality milk gives Beehive Cheese its signature butteriness. 

Resting on the principles of creating a caring, stress-free environment for their herd, they use modern dairying techniques to ensure that their animals are healthy and thriving. The herd eats grasses grown on the property, and during the snow-covered months, they eat silage grown and prepared on Wadeland's family farm.

Sustainable practices are important to Wade’s Dairy. They currently recycle 90% of their manure into compost for gardens and cow bedding, and they farm over 600 acres of their own ground to produce a good portion of feed for their cows.

A common question about milk concerns growth hormones and antibiotics. No cow is ever administered artificial growth hormones, most commonly referred to as rBGH or rBST.

Beehive Cheese does not standardize our milk. This means that as the milk changes with the season, we adjust our cheese recipe to match the fat and protein levels present in the milk.

Rennet

The entire line of Beehive Cheeses contain vegetarian-friendly rennet. Rennet is a complex set of enzymes used to coagulate milk and is an essential part of the cheesemaking process.