Why do people keep bees? These days, it seems that honey has nothing to do with it. “I don’t care about the honey,” they say with conviction. Instead, they cite a desire to pollinate their gardens or save the bees. Maybe that’s true for some. Others, I think, just want to look cool or intimidate […] Read more
Everywhere you look these days, people are making, buying, and using beeswax food wraps. If the concept is new to you, a beeswax food wrap is a piece of beeswax-infused cotton fabric that is meant to be used in place of plastic or aluminum food wrap. Since they are reusable, beeswax wraps are thought to […] Read more
When the weather turns warm, propolis can string into fragrant tendrils like fresh-from-the-oven mozzarella cheese. When cold, it can shatter like bone china, yielding knife-sharp shards. In especially hot seasons, it can run like water down the inside of hive walls before hardening into translucent droplets that glisten like gemstones. As fascinating as propolis is, […] Read more
At the end of the season, I have buckets of wax comb waiting for me in the shed. I always think I will make holiday candles, but I find rendering beeswax really intimidating. Even before I begin, I’m convinced I will set the house on fire, or at least ruin everything I touch. My beeswax […] Read more
As we all know, honey is made from the nectar of flowers. But when push comes to shove, honey bees will collect sweet liquid of endless variety. Several weeks ago, after describing the purple honey I received from a beekeeper in South Carolina, I received many opinions about what was really in the jar. My […] Read more
I thought pigs would fly before I ever tasted purple honey. But here’s the funny thing: last week a small jar of the precious liquid arrived in my mail box, compliments of Flying Pig Apiary in Durham, North Carolina. So either I was wrong or it’s time to wear pig shields! A week earlier beekeeper […] Read more
You’ve heard the rumors, right? Honey never goes bad, it’s been found in Egyptian tombs ready to eat, and it’s the only cure for some antibiotic-resistant bacteria. You may wonder if any of this is true, and if so, why. Let’s look at some of the details. Since the beginning of recorded history, honey has […] Read more