Honey Love

If you had asked me about honey just over a year ago I would have told you I didn't much care for it. Then one of my beekeeper friends dropped a glass jar of his fresh, local, honey into my hand. Lets just say that my husband and I have ever since teased this beekeeper for his street smart ways. One free jar and he has had a steady customer ever since!
It turns out that this first jar of honey was rich with the nectar from Tulip Poplar pollen. The rich, sweet molasses like flavors of Tulip Poplar honey are amazing and a must try.
Although it's near impossible for a beekeeper to have any honey that's purely based upon the pollen of only one type of flower, a knowledgeable keeper can tell what flowers dominated each batch based on extraction time, color and flavor of the honey, and knowledge of his local fauna.

The benefits of honey are numerous (although it should not be given to infants.) It has strong antibacterial qualities. Studies have shown that a teaspoon of honey taken Before brushing your teeth actually prevents plaque buildup thanks to honey's helpful (and tasty) enzymes. Not to mention that if you have pollen based allergies eating fresh local honey made from the pollens in your area can help provide relief.

If you think you like honey and aren't eating fresh local honey, boy will you bee in for a surprise!
On that first day my husband and I did a taste test, our friends honey versus a store bought brand that we had long ago accepted as, well,..., just honey. First we tasted the local and then the store bought. Simultaneously we came up with a new flavor description for that store honey "Dishwater". It was done, two lovers of local honey had been made, to the greater benefit of ourselves, our local keeper, his bees, and our gardens.