Honey

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The past two months, I've had a new craving for honey for some reason. Not sugar, but honey- has to be honey. Started putting it in my tea (always used to use sugar).

About 7 years ago my older daughter gave me a bag of fresh bee pollen from Cornell where she was working in the honeybee dept. I remember developing a taste for it but then thought nothing more of it when it ran out. Last week I saw a bag of raw bee pollen pellets at the health food store, I just HAD to have some and have been at my desk nibbling it every day out of the bag with a teaspoon, along with the daily honey in tea thing.
Today, DH and I walked into town to buy "goodies" at the health food store. I saw a box with a huge chunk of honeycomb and I *had* to buy it! Now I am sitting here with a spoon digging off hunks of honeycomb and eating it, spitting out the bits of wax after each bite.

What's happening to me?? Is this like the movie "The Fly"? :eek: :eek: :eek:
Help me, pleeeeezzzzbzz....http://www.qoqoo.com/subcul/rider/votedata/7.jpg

[Grog]

I've been addicted to honey since I was a kid. I eat some every day, usually on my toast.

Can't live without it.

[SalsaMTB]

lol...I can't believe I just read this. I had a huge craving for honey earlier today and attacked the lemon honey I have for tea!!

There is some honey lip balm they sell at bath and body works I picked up the other day. It's very honey smelling, I didn't care for it much though.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

There is some honey lip balm they sell at bath and body works I picked up the other day. It's very honey smelling, I didn't care for it much though.

At this point if I got some I'd probably EAT it. :eek:


P.S. I want a biking helmet just like the one above.

[makbike]

I too love fresh honey. The lady who runs our computer labs at school has several active hives and sells the fresh honey every year. Everyone on staff looks forward to her harvest and buys several bottles at a time. It is so much better than what they sell at the local grocery stores. I love it on apples, toast, home made bread (she makes this too!).

[emily_in_nc]

Lisa, have you tried honey stingers (http://www.honeystinger.com/noflash.html) on your rides? I haven't tried them, but I love honey too!

Emily

[Pax]

I'm drinking peach oolong tea with honey right now, it is SO good!

So, tell me...what is bee pollen and how do you eat it (plain, on food, in food)??? :)

[DarcyInOregon]

This is my favorite honey in the whole world.

http://www.volcanoislandhoney.com/

It is the Rare Hawaiian White Honey. I love to eat a teaspoon of this honey on a piece of whole grain toast.

I don't eat it every day because I am trying to lose weight. But gosh, when I do, it is like eating a little piece of Heaven.

Darcy

[mimitabby]

I have a source for honey from an organic farm in Arkansas. It is DELICIOUS!

if anyone is interested, I could find out if the bee guy has some to sell. I know he ships.

[matagi]

I have to say I absolutely loathe the stuff - cannot tolerate it even added to other foods (like in cakes or cookies). Funny thing is I didn't mind it as a child but as I entered my teenage years, I started to develop a dislike for it.

Mind you, I've recently gone off chocolate cake too, which is really disappointing. :(

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So, tell me...what is bee pollen and how do you eat it (plain, on food, in food)??? :)

It's little pellets of actual flower pollen, collected by honeybees. They go from flower to flower, getting more golden powdery pollen and patting it into balls which they pack onto their back legs. When they get a big pellet gathered, they head back to the hive, where the pollen is made into honey.
Beekeepers who collect and sell pollen have special little contraptions they put on the hive doorway that lets the bee enter, but knocks the pollen ball off their hind legs as they enter, the pollen pellets falling into a collection tray. (My daughter told me about this). Of course they don't take ALL the pollen or the bees would die off!
Here's a random website describing and selling bee pollen:
http://www.draperbee.com/info/beepollen.htm
(I have not ordered from them, I don't know them)

My first taste of the little grains of pollen was years ago- it has a unique honey/fruity/chewy/grainy taste, somewhat strong. I just toss a 1/4 teaspoon at a time on my tongue and chew it up. You only eat a teaspoon or two a day- it's not the kind of stuff you'd eat a bowl of! I developed a real liking for the taste and texture. It's not for everyone, so one should order a small amount the first time- look for it in a big health food store. It's usually kept refrigerated (or should be).

[Pax]

It's little pellets of actual flower pollen, collected by honeybees. They go from flower to flower, getting more golden powdery pollen and patting it into balls which they pack onto their back legs. When they get a big pellet gathered, they head back to the hive, where the pollen is made into honey.
Beekeepers who collect and sell pollen have special little contraptions they put on the hive doorway that lets the bee enter, but knocks the pollen ball off their hind legs as they enter, the pollen pellets falling into a collection tray. (My daughter told me about this). Of course they don't take ALL the pollen or the bees would die off!
Here's a random website describing and selling bee pollen:
http://www.draperbee.com/info/beepollen.htm
(I have not ordered from them, I don't know them)

My first taste of the little grains of pollen was years ago- it has a unique honey/fruity/chewy/grainy taste, somewhat strong. I just toss a 1/4 teaspoon at a time on my tongue and chew it up. You only eat a teaspoon or two a day- it's not the kind of stuff you'd eat a bowl of! I developed a real liking for the taste and texture. It's not for everyone, so one should order a small amount the first time- look for it in a big health food store. It's usually kept refrigerated (or should be).

Very cool! Thanks for the info, I'll have to look for it at my local natural foods store.

[emily_in_nc]

Isn't it true that if you're allergic to bee stings you shouldn't eat bee pollen? Thought I read that once...but I may just have dreamed it (or it's an urban legend!)

Emily

[matagi]

Isn't it true that if you're allergic to bee stings you shouldn't eat bee pollen? Thought I read that once...but I may just have dreamed it (or it's an urban legend!)

Emily
No that is quite correct, you also shouldn't eat royal jelly and depending on what bee protein you are allergic to, honey can also be a problem.

[light_sabe_r]

People who eat honey are less likely to get Hayfever. A teaspoon of LOCAL honey (from hives in your local area) does wonders for allergie sufferers.

Plus the fact it's anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant containing wonder therepy... My favourite local variety (when it's availible) is White clover and DAMN that's nice!

never heard about the BEE sting/pollen pellets before...

hmmmm...

.

[Brandi]

I got a honey ginger green tea for christmas! it is my favorite right now. But this week I am all about the fresh honey roasted peanut butter i ground at the healthfood store. OMG! It so yummy! i made cookies with it yesterday and had to give half away so I wouldn't eat them all!

[whippetgirl]

We have a beehive in our backyard which we got because I wanted to increase the yield in my vegetable/citrus garden. Wow, what a difference and of course the honey is a nice plus. Honey really differs in different areas depending on the time of year and the plants. I want to second the recommendation of the hawaiian honey....it is amazingly delicious and unlike any other honey I have ever tasted.
My DH suits up in the "beesuit" and tends to the bees. For those of you who don't want to do- it- yourselves, you can contact your local beekeepers group who often will be happy to leave one (or more) of their hives in your yard. By the way: the bees (or the girls, as we call them) are Italian honey bees and so very gentle! I can work in my garden while they are working with no worries.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

...the bees (or the girls, as we call them) are Italian honey bees and so very gentle! I can work in my garden while they are working with no worries.

That's so lovely! :)

(do they Buzzz in Italian?)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

OK, so I've eaten my way through a 1/2 lb. chunk of local honeycomb over the past three days...2495

[Offthegrid]

I can work in my garden while they are working with no worries.

You are braver than I!

[DarcyInOregon]

There is also a company that makes cosmetics, creams, lotions and such from bee stuff. The products are reasonably priced and of high quality. The company is Burt's Bees. Here is the link:

http://www.burtsbees.com

I use the eye cream they make out of royal jelly. I like their lip balm, and I use a lot of it because of doing you know what outside all the time, with the wind blowing against my face.

Sometimes I see a few of the Burt Bee products for sale at a pharmacy like Walgreens, or at a grocery store like Thriftway. I imagine some of the products are sold at the whole/natural food stores also.

I am interested in other members' recommendations regarding honey products. Any links?

[crazycanuck]

The honey stingers look ymmy and would love to order some over the net however...would they make it through Australian Quarantine??? I know i can't bring NZ honey to Aust & vice versa..hmmmm...

Off to email the nice quarantine folks...

BTW-which honey stingers are the best? The chocolate ones look yummmmy...

c

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yeah the honey stingers look good, but are kind of expensive. Hmm...I could either buy two cartons of honey stingers....or I could buy another merino base layer! :rolleyes:

Darcy- I used Burt's lip balm for YEARS every day, I just loved it. Then one day I put it on and suddenly out of the blue it felt all burning and my lips got all red and swollen and it was horrible! I looked awful- the red swelling even extended around beyond the edge of my lips! I stopped using it for several days and it took like 3 days for my lips to feel and look normal again. Then I put just a bit on to see if it was really the Burt's doing it, and BOOM! lips immediately swelled up all red and burning again! :eek: :eek: I then did some internet research and found a couple other women who had used it for years and then suddenly became allergic to it with the exact same symptoms. I think it's the peppermint essential oil or another essential oil in it, nothing to do with bee-ish ingredients. After that I have only used lip balms without essential oils and I seem to be fine. The only other time I've had an allergic reaction to anything was last summer to some PABA sunscreen- gave me BOILS all over my neck and back! :eek: :eek: Had to switch to sunscreen with only titanium oxide as the active ingredient, and all natural types.

[emily_in_nc]

A few honey products: Bath and Body Works (http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=honey&origkw=honey). I was given one of the Le Couvent des Minimes body balms, and it smells and looks just like honey. Makes my hands smell luscious. I really do have to remind myself not to start licking my fingers! :p

Burt's Bees (http://www.burtsbees.com) is made near where I work, in Durham, NC. I'm partial to them because they're local and natural and seem to be a very good company, but most of their products aren't heavy on the honey that I've noticed. They do use a lot of beeswax, though. And I love their lipbalm (no allergies yet).

Emily

[mudmucker]

I use honey from a local apiary very close to me and I love it. Not only am I supporting my local farmer which I try to do as much as I can, but the honey is raw and unprocessed with the comb and is delicious. The product never has been warmer than the temperature naturally occurring in a bee hive and basically retains all the pollen, enzymes, and minerals and well, everything but the bees. I too have heard like light_sabe_r, that if you take a tsp of local honey you can abate some allergies because of resistance building to the pollen in your area.

Another product I am trying, not local obviously, is using brown rice syrup. It is a gluten-free, wheat-free product that is sweet, but not as sweet as honey. I use it in the homemade granola bars I make for my bike rides, in smoothies and in some cooking. I want to try making my own GU for my bike rides and know that if you use karo syrup and other recommended sweeteners the glucose content can cause dramatic insulin surges in addition to consistency changes. I haven't determined yet if the brown rice syrup would cause similar surges.

[massbikebabe]

Use Burt's Bee's in some form every morning...love the stuff. Found it while skiing in Vermont and now my local grocery sells it!! Hand cream very greasy, foot cream best ever. You can also find it at drugstore.com





karen

[KnottedYet]

Lisa - I'm amazed your 1/2 lb of honeycomb lasted 3 days! I used to be able to get it pretty cheap, and we'd eat it from a spoon or spread the comb on bread (the wax melted on toast and really added to the taste and texture!)

I've started having problems with Burt's Bees minty lip balm. And I've loved it and used it for years! Enough people must be sensitive to the mint that BB has come up with a "honey" lip balm. I saw some at the store, but didn't buy a tube to try yet. No minty oils. http://www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10751&storeId=10101&productId=26151&langId=-1&categoryId=&showSubCategory=yes

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa - I'm amazed your 1/2 lb of honeycomb lasted 3 days! I used to be able to get it pretty cheap, and we'd eat it from a spoon or spread the comb on bread (the wax melted on toast and really added to the taste and texture!)

I've started having problems with Burt's Bees minty lip balm. And I've loved it and used it for years! Enough people must be sensitive to the mint that BB has come up with a "honey" lip balm. I saw some at the store, but didn't buy a tube to try yet. No minty oils. http://www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10751&storeId=10101&productId=26151&langId=-1&categoryId=&showSubCategory=yes

Hi Knot,
Actually, i'll confess...the 1/2 lb of honeycomb did last me 3 days...but only because I didn't eat any the first day! :rolleyes: So I really "ate" it in two days. I just dig into it with a spoon and skip the part about putting it ON anything...though your melted wax toast description sounds tempting!

Yeah, I used Burt's lip balm for YEARS several times a day- I loved it! Then that violent reaction happened all of a sudden. Weird.
Thanks for pointing out their new Honey Lip Balm- I didn't know about it! I suspect the problem for me WAS the peppermint oil. But both balms also contain rosemary extract- which would make me only try a tiny bit at first, in case it was THAT that my lips developed an allergy to, and not the peppermint. I'll spring for a HoneyBalm tube and check it out...I can always give it to my daughters if I react to it.
By the way...it is FUN to play with the fluttering bee on the Burt's webpage you link to!!! :) Keep playing with him with your mouse and he will eventually go hide in his hive. He'll stay there until you touch the hive withyour mouse pointer again, then he'll come out again to "play". COOL.

Knot, I REALLY like that funky "bee lady super hero" picture I attached to my first post in the thread. Do you think it would be dorky for me to use it as my TE avatar?? Tell me the truth now, I can take it. It don't want all the ohter chicks secretly laughing at me! :eek: :(

[KnottedYet]

USE IT AS YOUR AVATAR!!!!!

Please, please, it would "bee" so cool!

Do it.... you know you want to! (and you can always switch it back later)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I did it!

Thank for encouraging my inner goof-ness. :)

[KnottedYet]

Hey, I'm the LAST person to ever discourage goofy behaviour! The new avatar looks great!

[emily_in_nc]

I love the new avatar, Lisa!!!

[DarcyInOregon]

Darcy- I used Burt's lip balm for YEARS every day, I just loved it. Then one day I put it on and suddenly out of the blue it felt all burning and my lips got all red and swollen and it was horrible!

Hi Lisa, getting sudden allergies is normal. I developed an allergy to walnuts and fresh pineapple and the allergies lasted for about two decades. The symptoms were face and body rashes that were equivalent to a bad skin burn. Eventually enough time passed and I am no longer allergic to walnuts and fresh pineapple.

I can give you two recommendations for lip balm. One is a lip balm made with macadamia nut and kukui oils, along with white beeswax, coconut oil, castor oil, avacado oil, jajoba oil and vitamin E. You have to do a search to find a maker who uses that combination. It is an excellent lip balm. The second is a French lip balm, called Amilab. I don't know the ingredients, but it is a real high end lip balm that provides excellent protection. I am pretty certain the two lip balms I mentioned do not contain peppermint oil.

Darcy

[KnottedYet]

SunDog/Dr. Bronner's makes some nice ones, too. I have the ginger one. I think I put up a link before somewhere. This is the balm that's nursing my lips back to health after my last Burning Burt's Bees encounter. (I'm a slow learner)

Here it is again. http://www.drbronner.com/sun_productsandingredients.html

They support a couple of cool charities. And I've been using Dr. Bronner's soap since I was a baby.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

After my Burt's reaction, I looked around and found a lip balm that was gentle and didn't burn my lips- I settled on the Kiss My Face lip balm sticks which don't hurt my lips:
http://www.kissmyface.com/Category/Kiss+My+Face/Organic+Lip+Care/
I didn't like the ginger one. I like the peach one and have been using that, but the honey/vanilla one now sounds tempting! (as long as I don't EAT it).
I'll look for the Dr Bronner's too. Oddly, I love the Bronner's peppermint castille liquid soap in the shower, and that don't burn me anywhere- just feels nice and cool. :p

P.S. thanks Emily :)

[Pax]

Lisa - LOVE your new avatar! :D

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thanks Queen! (Queen Bee??)

It's kind of funny, but bees sort of keep popping up in my life.
I have a bee tattoo....one of my daughters has an entomology degree and wound up working in the bee dept at CornellU....I run a little side business that has a bee playing banjo as it's logo...other stuff too...

Then I started this thread because the last 2 months I've been having a craving for honey something fierce. That's when I looked for a bee-ish image that might reflect my "inner beedom"...and found this image. En garde! I really love it, it's similar to how I feel inside when I have my Shebeest yellow and black biking jacket on with my yellow helmet...I feel like some sort of super bee when I wear them. :cool:

Besides, I got bored with my dopey old avatar. :D

[Pax]

Thanks Queen! (Queen Bee??)

It's kind of funny, but bees sort of keep popping up in my life.
I have a bee tattoo....one of my daughters has an entomology degree and wound up working in the bee dept at CornellU....I run a little side business that has a bee playing banjo as it's logo...other stuff too...

Then I started this thread because the last 2 months I've been having a craving for honey something fierce. That's when I looked for a bee-ish image that might reflect my "inner beedom"...and found this image. En garde! I really love it, it's similar to how I feel inside when I have my Shebeest yellow and black biking jacket on with my yellow helmet...I feel like some sort of super bee when I wear them. :cool:

Besides, I got bored with my dopey old avatar. :D

Cool about your daughters college job, I have a good friend who worked the bee labs when she was in college...she painted dots of the back of the bees (I have no idea why?).

BTW - A bee tattoo sounds very unique.

[KnottedYet]

do we get to see pics of the bee tattoo?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

do we get to see pics of the bee tattoo?
Sorry, only DH gets to see it! ;)

Yes, my daughter painted dots on bees too for a while, to track their movements, breeding, and such. She used to send me honey and pollen. At one time she and I both kept tarantulas. Nowadays she has traded the fluttering wings of butterflies for the turning leaves of books- she works at a big library in Northampton MA and is in charge of repairing and restoring all their valuable books. She likes to work with handmade books, bookbinding, and artists' books, and she makes poetry chapbooks with her partner (a performance poet & playwright)- she was just too creative for entomolgy! :p

What makes honey crystallize?? I bought a little jar of buckwheat honey and 2 weeks after I opened it it has strated forming little crunchie crystals- yummy!- but why does it happen?

[Meaux]

Someone was asking about the Honey Stingers. They are GREAT! They taste SO much better than regular energy gels. But beware, one of the guys said that if you eat too many of them at a time, you can get diarrhea. I don't know if you get that from regular gels, so maybe you could alternate. However, Stingers, in moderation, are very yummy.