Southern Bees, honey carmel and sweet bee bread!!!

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:00:00 GMT

There is a secret society living, breeding, and working here amongst us. They are not a newly-formed social order. They were around during Biblical times. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans studied them. Without their consent, the English brought them to America.
Except for the lone female monarch, the females are forced workaholics; they must forge for food, take care of the young, and clean their homes. While the females work, the males contribute nothing. Their job is to live in the home the females provide for them, eat the food the females provide and when they are fat, ready and rested they search out and mate with a queen of a neighboring colony. But nature is not without its just rewards; as soon as the males perform their duty, they die.
Yet without these colonies our crop harvest would be significantly reduced. The number of fruits and vegetables produced and the size of each fruit and vegetable would be smaller and/or malformed. In order to avoid this decrease in the quantity and quality of our produce, entire families are loaded onto trucks in the night, ideally in the rain, when they are calmest, and then with little or no notice from our general population, more than 100 truckloads roll up and down Interstate 95 each year, taking these workers to their summer jobs from Florida to Maine. These families are part of the 1.1 million colonies of honeybees that are rented each year in order to pollinate 50 different crops in the United States.

Here in North Carolina, bees pollinate vegetables and fruits for human consumption and foodstuff for wildlife. To help understand the enormous impact bees have on production one needs to look no further than the cucumber crop. Our state is one of the largest producers of cucumbers, but without insects there would be no cucumbers. Cucumbers require insect pollination to set fruit. The average requirement is 12 insect visits to each cucumber flower per day. The only insect that is available in the numbers needed to fulfill this requirement is the honey bee. When there are not enough honey bees living in the wild (feral bees) owner-operated honey bee colonies are rented to fill the void.
The honeybee also plays a major role in the pollination of the berries and seeds that are needed for our state’s wildlife. It is true that several insects share in the pollination of our plants but without the hard work of the honeybee the black bear and many North Carolina birds would not have the food they need to survive.
Unfortunately there are several serious threats to our bee population. The rapid development of subdivisions and industry has replaced grass with many of the native plants needed to feed a large hive and in the last 5 years we (the U.S. and North Carolina) have lost over 1/3 of our managed bee colonies and 90% of the feral honey bee colonies have been destroyed by accidentally imported mites.
What are folks doing to help? There are many state, local and federal organizations to create interest, guide and watchdog over our bee population. The Wake County Beekeepers Association and Wake County Cooperative Extension Service work hard to protect wild bees and to keep the bee industry going strong. The department of Agriculture has a bee inspection program to help fight the mite problem.
There are more beekeepers in North Carolina than any other state in the Union. To increase these ranks North Carolina State University offers short courses at their NCBA (North Carolina Beekeepers Association) biannual conventions and the local Wake County organizations mentioned above also offer courses for beginners and certification for Master Beekeepers. Beekeeping classes are normally taught in the winter months. Bees kept by North Carolina beekeepers produce over $6 million dollars-worth of honey. I started taking a beekeeping class through the Wake County Cooperative Extension Service because I wanted to harvest a jar of honey or two from my own hive.
Honey is a source of antioxidants, calcium absorption, and contains “good bacteria” for the proper function of the GI tract. For great honey recipes see below and go to honey.com for a additional recipes.
ONE VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT HONEY: from the National Honey Board:
DO NOT add honey to your baby's food, water or formula.
DO NOT dip your baby's pacifier in honey.
DO NOT give your baby honey as medicine.
Honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores that can cause infant botulism - a rare but serious disease that affects the nervous system of young babies (under one year of age). C. botulinum spores are present throughout the environment and may be found in dust, soil and improperly canned foods. Adults and children over one year of age are routinely exposed to, but not normally affected by, C. botulinum spores.
If you are interested in learning about beekeeping, contact your local Cooperative Extension office or call Don Moore, vice president of the N.C. State Beekeepers Association, at (336) 584-3195 or Dr. John Ambrose, NCSU, at (919) 515-1660.
Honey Caramels
- Makes 30 caramels -
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup butter (no substitutions)
2 cups honey
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely chopped almonds, optional
Directions
Line bottom and sides of 9-inch square pan with plastic wrap; set aside. Melt butter in medium-sized heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add honey, cream and brown sugar; mix well. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling, stirring frequently, until candy thermometer registers 250°F to 255°F, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla; pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely in refrigerator before cutting into individual caramels with very sharp knife. Roll in chopped nuts or coconut, if desired, and wrap each individually in clear plastic wrap. Store, tightly wrapped in refrigerator up to 1 month. Caramels will be soft at room temperature and firm if kept chilled.

Serving Suggestions
Drop one into a cup of hot coffee or tea or enjoy this delicious treat on its own.

Note: Honey should not be fed to infants under one year of age. Honey is a safe and wholesome food for children and adults. More details

The honey health and wellness benefits emphasized in the brochure include honey’s nutritional profile,” The brochure features recipe suggestions to help consumers take advantage of some of these wellness benefits, including a “Fruity Honey Smoothie” recipe to take advantage of honey and calcium absorption and recipes for “Honey Hydrator” and “No-Bake Honey Energy Bars” to help honey and athletic performance. The “Honey and Wellness” brochure also includes a chart please see:honey.com
Bee Sweet Banana Bread
- Makes 1 loaf -
Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Cream honey and butter in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, Combine dry ingredients in small bowl; add to honey mixture alternately with bananas, blending well. Stir in walnuts. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

Bake in preheated 325°F oven 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

Note: Honey should not be fed to infants under one year of age.

Recipes

Southern Bees, honey carmel and sweet bee bread!!!