My Cup Of Tea
How can I not respond to day where I was in second gear for the whole drive to work this morning? It’s official, the dog days of summer have departed leaving us with white peaks…it’s not so bad. It is though a shock to the system and the appetite. Admit it, you had soup yesterday or made your first cup of hot chocolate in months. I know I did.
Actually, I went with my first afternoon cup of tea in ages. Which of course we know requires a few extras. I went for Dragon Lady’s Belly Rub, accented by her Trust concoction (a sort of prayer to Ullr which clearly worked), a dash of Paradise Springs Farm raw milk (I live in Idaho so no I am not committing a crime while WY residents wait for their cow shares) and a gob,yes gob of Wonderful Wyoming Honey. Every single one of these ingredients is a grocery great and stirs my brain on food issues: benefits of organic, interstate commerce and the unfortunate truth: our bees are in a crisis.
Now Belly Rub doesn’t typically cause any stress, given its name, one would think it would do the opposite. Unfortunately, the gob of thick honey did the trick and had my brain racing as I enjoyed another Noah Baumbach great, Greenberg. If you have seen this flick, you know that Ben Stiller’s character has some issues he’s attempting to work out. One of them, is letters. Predominantly, his letters remark on unsatisfactory service ranging from public offices to pet taxis. He points out in his letter all the details that give you full understanding on why a statement of dissatisfaction is necessary. Now in this case a statement of dissatisfaction is not exactly warranted. Wonderful Wyoming Honey is wonderful. Instead, this is a statement of concern…
Did you know that every third bite you take is in direct relationship to a honeybee? Honey really is our nectar from the Gods. Besides being a natural sweetener, honey possesses a multitude of benefits, from being a beauty ingredient to a natural energy booster to soothing your sore throat—honey really can do nearly anything for you and your body.
Honey is composed primarily of carbohydrates (natural sugars) and water, as well as trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. Providing 17 grams of carbohydrates and 64 calories per tablespoon, honey is an all-natural sweetener without any added ingredients. Honey also contains a variety of flavonoids and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants, scavenging and eliminating free radicals. Generally, darker honeys have higher antioxidant content than lighter honeys.
Honey is made by bees in one of the world’s most efficient facilities, the beehive. The 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to produce 1 pound of honey. But our bees have problems…
As described by Stephen Buchman and Gary Nabhan. “A pollination crisis is flaring.” This crisis threatens rare and endangered plants as well as the common ones equally —plants that keep people clothed and fed. “At risk is every plant crop that depends on pollination for reproduction: one in three mouthfuls of the food people eat. Pollinators are the unseen engines driving an ecosystem,” say Buchman and Nabhan. “They couple plant to plant and plant to animal, spinning the verdant world through endless cycles and feedback loops, providing fuel and fuses and safety valves.”
There are many theories as to why the decline is occurring. Popular theories include cell phones, the varroa mite, fertilizers and limited free swarm practices. But unfortunately there is no real evidence to support any conclusive explanation. What we do know is that bee populations have declined by nearly 25% since 1990.
Despite our lack in understanding for why we’re in this crisis, honey is still an ingredient that nearly every household in America maintains as a staple in the cabinet. Honey has been used since ancient times both as a food and as a medicine.
Apiculture, the practice of beekeeping to produce honey, dates back to at least 700 BC. For many centuries, honey was regarded as sacred due to its wonderfully sweet properties as well as its rarity. It was used mainly in religious ceremonies to pay tribute to the gods, as well as to embalm the deceased. Honey was also used for a variety of medicinal and cosmetic purposes. For a long time in history, its use in cooking was reserved only for the wealthy since it was so expensive that only they could afford it. The National Honey Board maintains the best resources for learning how to include honey in recipes as a replacement for synthetic sweeteners. Visit their website at www.honey.org.
Now I need a fresh cup of tea. TP
