Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream

Have you ever put ice cream and honey bee in the same sentence?  Haagen-Dazs has because they understand the importance of bees.  I'm talking about all the fruit and nuts that go into it, they even have a honey flavored ice cream.  Bee pollination is essential for for the fruit and nuts that go into over 50% of their products. 

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Here are some of their 'bee-built flavors':  Macadamia Nut, Pear, Coconut, Cherries, Strawberries, Peanuts, Mango, and even Peppermint.  And in honor of the honey bee, they have created a new flavor called Vanilla Honey Bee.  This one combines their signature vanilla from Madagascar and rich honey from the clover fields of North and South Dakota.  What could be better?

Haagen-Dazs has put together a group of leading bee keepers and  entimologists (those who study bees) to provide them with insights into the honey bee's plight.  In the last three years, the United States had lost one-third of our domesticated honey bees and no one knows why.

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You can help too.  Visit their special website to find more facts about the bees and their disappearance.  They also provide information on planting a honey bee garden in your own backyard so you can provide them with resources for food and pollen.
Check out the videos of dancers dressed in bee costumes promoting the cause, and be sure to download the bee screen saver.

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www.helpthehoneybees.com

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Hooray for Haagen-Dazs for being a responsible  and proactive corporate citizen !

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GA Beekeepers Associaton

This weekend we attended the Ga Beekeepers Association Fall Meeting in Rock Spring, Ga.  It was fun to visit with other bee keepers that we only get to see at these meetings that are from other parts of the state.  The main reason to go tho is all the things we learn from the classes with the great speakers.  One of our favorites is Dr. Jamie Ellis from the University of Florida and formerly of the the University of Georgia. 

We got to attend classes on nutrition, nectar bearing trees and plants of Georgia, biology of bees, branding and promotion, and nutrition.  The neatest class was Structural Anatomy of a Honey Bee in 3D given by Dr. Fred Hossler from East Tennesee State University.  He had photographed bees from all angles at a magnification of 10,000 times.  It showed that honey bees have what looks like hair over practically every part of their body, but instead of hair, they are receptors with nerves in them.  The bee's two large compound eyes are made up of over 400 smaller ones that were clearly visible.  A cross section of the stinger clearly showed the hollow inside that Dr. Hossler referred to as a hypodermic needle.  He even showed a picture of an 'antenna cleaner' located on a leg that looked exactly like a teeny tiny comb.  If the bee gets pollen on her antenna, she can 'comb' it off and then place it in the pollen basket on another leg.

Friday was topped off with a low country boil with fresh shrimp brought up from Savannah and prepared deliciously.  There was also a silent auction, a live auction, and door prizes.  Danny won a queen as a door prize which we gave a new home today.  There were competitions for honey, candles, photography, block wax, comb honey and a few more things.  I entered my first photo contest here and was excited to win a red ribbon for second place.  It is the picture at the top of this post, it's a close up of freshly deposited pollen.  Next year we are planning on entering our honey, wax and another photograph.  And congratulations to our friends Mr. and Mrs. Williams who were awarded lifetime memberships to the Beekeepers Association, it was well deserved.  Also, Mrs. Webb of Clarkesville, Ga returned from a worldwide honey competition in France last week where her Sourwood Honey
won 'Best in the World'.  She beat out entries from 32 other countries.  It's great that the best comes from Georgia. 

Cooking Tips & Substitution

For best results, select recipes specifically developed for using honey. When you do use honey as a substitute for granulated sugar, begin by subbing honey for up to half of the sugar called for in the recipe. With experimentation, honey can be substituted for all the sugar in some recipes. When using honey as a substitute for sugar in baked goods:

1) Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used.

2) Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.

3) Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning.

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Strawberry Chocolate Tart

1&2/3 c slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 c margarine or butter, cut into pieces

3 Tbs sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 c honey

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp grated orange peel

2 tsp warm water

1 pint strawberries, sliced

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Place toasted almonds in food processor, process until finely ground. Add margarine, sugar and egg yolk; process until dough forms a ball. Chill 1 hour. Spray 9" tart pan (with removable bottom) generously with nonstick cooking spray. Press dough into bottom and up sides of tart pan. Dough will be sticky. Bake at 350* for 12 to 15 minutes, until shell is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

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In small bowl, whisk together honey, cocoa powder, orange peel and warm water. To assemble tart, spread chocolate filling into cooled tart shell. Arrange sliced strawberries in overlapping rings to cover. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 8 serving.

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Published by the National Honey Board

Calcium

It is estimated that by the year 2020, half of all Americans over the age of 50 will be at risk for fractures from osteoporosis (low bone mass). One of the key strategies for reducing the likelihood of developing low bone mass is to consume adequate calcium. Of course, it is also very important that the calcium consumed is absorbed. Researchers at Purdue University showed that honey enhanced calcium uptake in laboratory animals. In fact, they found that the absorption of calcium was increased as the amount of honey increased. Although this data would need to be confirmed using human subjects, the preliminary findings are very compelling. Maybe you'd like to get your calcium through a fruit smoothie made with milk rather than by taking a calcuim pill. The following recipe is easy to make and of course, delicious!


Fruit Honey Smoothie
1 c frozen strawberries
1 banana
1/3 c honey
1 c skim or nonfat milk
1/2 c plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt

In a blender, combine all ingredients; process until smooth. Makes 2 large servings.
Calories 332, Protein 9, carbs 76, fat 2, calcium 281, sodium, 110, potassium

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BEE  FACTS

Because of the multitude of floral sources from which honey originates, no two honeys are exactly alike in flavor, color and nutritional content. Honey is produced in every state. Leading honey producing states are California, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Honey bees must visit about 2 million flowers to make just one pound of honey. Common honey varieties in the United States include alfalfa, buckwheat, clover, orange blossom and sage. In her lifetime, a worker bee will make just 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.

The 'Good Bacteria'

BACTERIA

The gastrointestinal tract (GI) is full of bacteria. These bacteria are essential for life and good health. One group of bacteria that have been shown to be particualarly important to the health and proper function of the GI tract are called Bifidobacteria. One way to increase the Bifidobacteria populations in the gut is by consuming foods containing prebiotics, substances that increase the growth on activity of good bacteria. Prebiotics help these "friendly bacteria" and "be happy."

Honey contains a variety of substances that can function as prebiotics. Research conducted at Michigan State University has shown that adding honey to dairy products such as yogurt can enhance the growth, activity, and viability of Bifidobacteria.

Our grandson, Landon decided he wanted to try comb honey.  I think he liked it, if that messy face is any evidence.

Cookies & Beeswax

Peanut Butter & Honey Cookies

1 stick butter
1/4 c brown sugar
6 oz honey
1 egg at room temperature
1 c peanut butter (crunchy or regular)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
Optional: Sprinkle with sugar before baking


Preheat oven to 350*

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly pour in the honey, beating continuously. Beat in the egg and peanut butter and mix well. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flour.

Spoon onto baking sheet, spaced well apart, and press flat.  Bake 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool until firm and crunchy, then serve.


Beeswax is the purest of all natural waxes. Only honey bees make beeswax, and once it is molded cakes, it is practically indestructible. No insects or animals will feed on it, so it may be stored for long periods of time.

Some common uses are lining baking pans with it to prevent certain pastries from sticking and to create a crunchy crust. It is used to waterproof wooden kegs and buckets, and season cast iron. It can stop squeaky door hinges, smooth rough spots on braces or dentures, and also help preserve flowers. Beeswax is also used in quilting, furniture polish, leather conditioners, marble repair, ointments and balms. Some people use it for finishing iron work, bronze preservation, mustache wax, etching glass, tack cloths, brick floor sealers, soap making, fruit coating, and lubricants for zippers, windows and drawer slides. And these are only some of their uses.

Beeswax candles have been highly prized since ancient times. Honey bees, long regarded as models of industry and purity, make their wax from the nectar of flowers. Pure beeswax candles with their delightful sweet fragrance burn longer, more cleanly, and give off more light than other wax candles.

Pure beeswax may develop a white film called bloom which can easily be removed by buffing with a soft cloth.

Class Structure

Here is a queen excluder. The queen is twice the size of worker bees and is not able to fit thru. The excluder sits on top of the hive body and prevents her from moving up any higher and laying eggs in the areas used just for honey storage that the bee keeper will rob. Nobody wants honey with bee larva in it.

In early spring, a hive will begin increasing it's population in anticipation of the 'honey flow', which starts around here when the tulip poplars begin to bloom. A hive only has one queen, but during this peak season, a healthy hive may maintain about 30,000 to 40,000 worker bees (females) and 500 to 1000 drones (males). In winter, with less food sources available, the population will be reduced to about 500 to 12,000 workers.

A strong, healthy and well cared for queen may live for 2-4 years, and can lay 1200 or so eggs a day. When a current queen is on the decline and begins producing less eggs, leaves the hive with a swarm (more on that later), or is in general no longer healthy enough to maintain her superiority, worker bees prepare a new queen ahead of time. Royal jelly is fed to several larvae, this is the only way they can potentially become the queen. Normally, the first bee to emerge from her queen cell will sting the other bees to death before they have a chance to emerge. If more than one potential queen breaks free of her cell at a time, they will literally fight to the death as a hive can only have one queen.

The sole purpose of a drone is to mate with the queen. It is believed that only a few drones will mate with the queen. After mating, the 'lucky' fella dies, he has served his purpose. At the end of summer, as the honey flow comes to an end, most of the drones are chased away from the hive. There will be a limited amount of food to get the hive through the winter and they can't waste it on bees that don't contribute. Since drones are unable to forage for themselves, they quickly die.

The worker is the backbone of the hive. Every bee has a specific duty and performs it without fail. After bees are born, certain workers must clean out the cell to make ready for the new eggs to be laid. Larvae must be feed and tended to. Others attend the queen as she doesn't leave the hive. These will feed and groom her and even carry her waste outside. Some even pull guard duty at the entrance of the hive to make sure bees from other hives won't sneak in and try to steal honey.

A worker literally works herself to death and her life span is only about 30 days. She may fly up to 3 miles a day away from the hive foraging for nectar and pollen. Once she's loaded up, she will take the straightest and quickest route back to the hive, virtually 'making a beeline for' it.

Athletic Performance

Did you know.......
* Honey bees never sleep.
* They are the only insect that produces food for human consumption.
* Honey can absorb moisture, if you leave a jar of it open for several days, it may absorb enough to cause it to ferment.
* Honey bees can regulate the temperature of their hive. They will keep it between 90 and 95 degrees.
* Pollination just from honey bees in the US is valued at $15 billion.

It is well known that carbohydrate consumption prior to, during and after exercise improves performance and speeds the recovery of muscles. Honey is a natural source of readily available carbohydrates, providing 17 grams of carbs per tablespoon. Preliminary data from the University of Memphis Exercise and Sports Nutrition Laboratory suggest that honey is as effective as glucose for carbohydrate replacement during endurance exercise.

Honey Hydrator

1/2 cup honey

1/2 tsp lite salt

2 cups orange juice

5 1/2 cups water

Combine ingredients. Using lukewarm water will aid in disolving honey. Then cool.

Makes 8 servings, 8 oz each. Calories 75, carbs 21, potassium 85, sodium

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Danny and I spent last weekend in Anniston, Alabama attenting a class for work. We enjoyed getting to see you folks that we don't get to see regularly. A number of people purchased honey while we where there, and I'd like to say thanks to all our new customers and hope you enjoy the honey. We were also able to answer a lot of questions about honey and raising bees, something we are always glad to do.

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Long ago, it was customary for newlyweds to drink mead (honey wine) for the first month after marriage. Hence the term 'honeymoon.'

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When you get a bee sting and the site itches, that's normal. If you itch all over, you are likely having an allergic reaction.

Beekeeping 101

This is me and my cousin Jason. He and my Aunt Maxine came for a visit and for his first lesson on beekeeping. We're suited up, just need to put our veils on and we'll be ready to go.

This picture was taken shortly before harvest time. I've just pulled out a frame that is completely capped (the cells full of honey have a thin layer of wax covering them).

Notice the flat piece of metal Jason is holding, this is a 'hive tool'. Bees produce a thick tacky substance called propolis that they use to glue everything together. It's good for plugging holes in the hive, insulating any cracks and is an excellent water proofer. The hive tool is just a mini pry bar used to separate things.

Now I'm looking for the queen to show Jason and I know she's in the bottom.
The queen can only move around in the bottom box known as the hive body. A queen excluder prevents her from getting any higher in the other boxes. She should never get up in the areas that the honey will be harvested from because you don't want to harvest honey with eggs or larvae in it. A queen excluder looks alot like a cake cooling rack and sits directly on top of the hive body, between it and the next box up. The worker bees have no problem getting through this to do their work, but the queen is so much larger and the cross pieces are so close together that she wont fit.

Jason is holding a frame with probably a few hundred bees on it. They continue to be so focused on their chores that they don't pay us much attention.

Afterwards, Jason wanted to try out the John Deere. Bush hog to your heart's content. Danny and I are glad you and Maxine were able to come visit. Come on back anytime.

Cucumber Honey Eye Nourisher

1/2 tsp chamomile tea
2 tsp cucumber, peeled with seeds removed
1 tbs aloe vera gel
1/2 tsp honey

Steep chamomile tea in boiling water. Set aside to cool. In food processor or blender, combine cucumber, aloe vera and honey. Blend on low setting. Add tea. Blend until smooth.

Apply gently under eyes using finger. Store in glass dish covered with plastic wrap in refrigerator for up to one week. Best applied chilled. Makes 4 treatments.

Benefits: Reduces puffiness, cools and refreshes contours under eyes.

Published by the National Honey Board

Feeding

It's time to start feeding the bees. We harvested the honey two weeks ago. When we 'pull' the honey, we try to leave enough for them to make it thru the winter as it's their major food source. With no flowers blooming during the winter, they can't forage for food.

If it doesn't look like they have enough honey, we feed them sugar water to help them out. Sometimes pollen patties, since they have protein in them.

There are different types of feeders, today we tried the ziplock bag method we'd heard about from another beekeeper. After mixing two parts sugar to one part water in a 5 gallon bucket, we filled a dozen gallon sized ziplocks. We laid them inside the hives and cut a small slit in the side so the bees can gradually suck the sugar water out.

We'll check them in a week to see who needs more.

This is hive #16. It's a swarm from last year and has been the most successful one we've caught. The population is high and the queen appears to be healthy, producing the appropriate amount of brood.

Recipe

Tailgate Tenderloin
1 6-7lb whole beef tenderloin
1/4 c olive oil
2 Tb broiled steak seasoning or seasoned salt
1 Tb black pepper
1/2 c honey
1 c ketchup
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c soy sauce

Trim fat from beef tenderloin. Slice meat into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices and place in large mixing bowl, coat slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with steak seasoning and black pepper to cover all slices. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. In separate bowl, mix together honey, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Add the mix to tenderloin slices and refrigerate overnight. Place slices on hot grill and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side to achieve desire doneness. If desired, serve on rolls as a pit beef sandwich. Makes 20 servings.

Recipe published by the National Honey Board