Get Your Taste On!

Bears 1.12 lbs - $9.50 (in short supply)

Jars 1.5 lbs - $12

Top ten facts about honey that you might not know.

1. Honey is the only non man-made sweetener which also is considered to have healing effects.

2. Honey has a pH level around 3-4 and consists of roughly 18% water. Because of this honey is a very stable substance and can last hundreds of years if properly stored.

3. Honey can reduce fat deposits found in our cardiovascular system.

4. Honey will not ferment in your stomach like refined table sugar or sucrose does. Because of this it does not subject you to a risk of bacterial infection.

5. Honey is the simplest possible molecular form of sugar, which cannot be broken down any further. This allows it to travel directly from the small intestine to the blood stream while not causing any problems to the digestive system like sucrose.

6. Honey is a top choice as fuel for burning body fat during sleep since it has an equal ratio of fructose to glucose.

7. Honey is the best substance to use to treat burns. Honey can effectively subdue pain while quickly healing a wound without scarring.

8. Vitamins as well as antioxidants are found in honey. One special antioxidant known as ‘pinocembrin’ is found only in honey.

9. Honey is known to be a very effective and safe solution to children’s coughs, even more so than over-the-counter medicines.

10. Some recent studies have shown that athletes who consumed honey before and after physical activity have recovered faster than those athletes who did not consume any honey at all.

Loess Hills Honey Bees keeping busy.

The Honey Hawk

Ingredients:

2 tbs Loess Hills Honey syrup
2 tbs elderflower liqueur
1 orange slice
chilled Edelweiss 2009 from Prairie Hawk Vinyard

Directions:

To make the honey syrup, combine 1 cup honey and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Let cool completely, transfer to a container, and refrigerate.

In a champagne flute, pour 2 tablespoons of honey syrup. Next, add in 2 tablespoons of your elderflower liqueur. Squeeze an orange slice into the glass, and drop it in. Top off the glass with Edelweiss 2009 and stir gently to combine.

Now that's a sweet lookin' drink.

How cool are these?

I just designed and ordered these for Melanie and I. Pretty cool eh?

It looks like I'll be making some deliveries of our raw Iowa honey next week. Tell your friends and neighbors, you now have a local vendor for your honey.

Strawberries with Honey Creme Anglaise

I'm going to have to try this.

1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
pinch salt
¼ cup honey
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan combine the cream, milk, vanilla seeds and bean. Bring to a simmer. Then turn off the heat and let stand for at least 15 minutes to infuse the cream with the vanilla.

In a medium bowl whisk the yolks, honey and a pinch of salt.

Bring the cream back to a simmer then slowly pour that into the bowl with the yolks while whisking. Pour everything back into the saucepan and continue to cook on low until it thickens slightly (170-175*F). It should just coat the back of a spatula or wooden spoon.

Strain this mixture into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour warm, if the weather is gray and clouds cover or cold, if the sun persists over the clouds, over a bowl of sliced strawberries.

Extracting honey morning

Going down to Clarence's to extract honey. Wanted to stop by and check on bees. Numbers seem down, but there is still larvae. Did not check lower super as I didn't have my full bee garb. Hoping many are just out early on this nice morning. Currently 8:43am and 68 degrees with no wind.

Bee Day!

http://www.nationalhoneybeeday.com/

Benefits of Honey

Soothes Coughs and Eases Colds - Perhaps among the most enjoyed health benefits of honey, the superfood can be used to soothe coughs or ease colds. A mixture of fresh lemon juice and raw honey provides soothing relief for sore throats and helps stop the tickle that stimulates coughing. Raw honey — with all its components including royal jelly, propolis and bee pollen — is high in nutrients and enzymes which kill bacteria and viruses. Children given just a little bit of honey before bed often sleep better and cough less than if given nothing. Don’t forget about honey when searching for home remedies for cough.

Further adding on to the health benefits of honey, the food:

Increases calcium absorption.
Can increase hemoglobin count and treat or prevent anemia caused by nutritional factors.
Can help arthritic joints.
Works as a natural and gentle laxative, aids constipation.
Provides instant energy without the insulin surge caused by white sugar.
Contains a wide array of trace minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, chromium, manganese and selenium, which are critical for healthy cellular insulin sensitivity and blood sugar balance. This superfood does have an effect on blood sugar and contains approximately 53% fructose, so one should only consume this in moderation.
Although honey can be a fantastic health-boosting tool, using the wrong kind of honey may give you the health benefits of honey you expect. A study conducted for Food Safety News shows that at least 75% of the honey sold in the US is actually not real honey, according to Food and Drug Administration standards. In order for honey to be deemed “honey” in the United States, the honey must contain pollen as it naturally would. While the FDA has a strict rule on what is and what isn’t considered real honey, they actually don’t bother to check the honey sold, and so many people are consuming fake, nutrient-depleted honey. The simplest potential solution to this problem would be for you to purchase honey at your local natural health food store, or obtain your honey from a local beekeeper if at all possible.



Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/health-benefits-of-honey-powerful-superfood/#ixzz23rgWYbGF

Honey Production and our Loess Hills Brand

Introducing Loess Hills Honey

Early mock-up of our logo on a jar. 

Honey orders are being taken now.

Our jars of honey are 1.5 lbs and will cost $12.

Normally you see 1lb jars. We want you to be satisfied!

There are are hundreds of uses for our honey.

You can taste your jar by the end of August or beginning of September. Call today @ 712-328-6627

Does Honey Go Bad?

No, honey does not go bad. In fact, it's recognized as the only food that doesn't spoil. That's raw unrefined honey. (Local)

It will, however, crystallize (become thick and cloudy) over time. If this happens, just remove the lid from the jar; place it in a pan of water; and heat over low heat stirring occasionally until the honey returns to its original consistency. Just don't microwave it.

After Harvest Visit

Visited the bees this morning with Alex. We keep our bees at a local vineyard and noticed they harvested their grapes recently. I'm guessing that was earlier than usual because of the drought. Captured another shallow frame of honey, so bees are still maintaining their honey production. It was very nice this morning with a temp of about 73 and partly cloudy when we visited.