Raw Rag™

On another sweet note, two articles related to safe and healthy honey

Since my post last week about securing good honey, I have seen two more resources for those of you interested in the topic:

• "Poultry Farms That Stop Antibiotics See Resistance Fall" (Scientific American)
• "Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves" (Food Safety News)

Honey, I am confused! How do I know nature's wonder from junk?

I have been reading books on honey and am convinced of its benefits both as a nutritional food and as a topical substance promoting beauty and health. For example, I've been looking through The Honey Prescription: The Amazing Power of Honey as Medicine and Honey: Nature's wonder ingredient: 100 amazing and unexpected uses from natural healing to beauty.

I talked with my friend Diane Wyzga, a bee guru (not to mention a lawyer and a storyteller) and asked her how to find good honey. Her response was not a simple one, so I asked her if she would write a guest post here so we can all be knowledgeable in our bee hunting. She said "yes," to my delight. Thanks, Diane!

Here is what she wrote:

I am the Lady Bee Wrangler of San Clemente. I have 11 hives and growing on an organic farm. We are so thrilled to have the space, as is the farmer. The bees get pollen and nectar and the farmer gets pollination.

How does one go about buying honey when you cannot get my Beach Blossom Honey?  Bees do not produce year 'round.  They follow the growing cycle.  As I tell folks at the farm stand, "I can't just turn on the honey faucet."

The best source for buying honey is a local beekeeper or beekeeping organization.  Usually you can find them if you Google "beekeeping" and your local area.  Backwards Beekeepers is one such club in Los Angeles.

You can also try your local farmer's market.  But you have to be careful.  Make sure