SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL HONEY MONTH! Honey. What is honey? The New World Dictionary of the American Language says it’s a thick, sweet, syrupy substance that bees make as food from the nectar of flowers and store in honeycombs. Honey is certainly nature’s delicacy. It is the only sweetener that is not processed. It can be eaten while still in the comb. The female worker bee makes 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her short lifetime. Honey is a great sweetener to use in cooking. We almost never use granulated sugar in our kitchen. With some experimentation, honey can be used in any recipe. For baking: use honey for up to half the granulated sweetener called for in the recipe. In addition, for each cup of honey used: reduce an added liquid by ¼ cup and add ½ teaspoon baking soda. Reduce the oven temperature by 25°F.
The National Honey Board (NHB) produces some outstanding brochures. They aren’t that expensive either. They can be reached at (800) 553-7162 or www.honey.com. They have a press kit available for free. Email Andrea at “Andrea@nhb.org”.
Did you get to see the bee booth at the Oregon State Fair? Maybe you were one of the volunteers. The Oregon State Fair Committee commanded by Trevor Riches, planned and put together an extraordinarily exceptional display this year. Thanks to Trevor, Todd Bartlem, Dr. Dewey Caron, and Bunny Carter for all their hard work and donated time. Thanks to the crew who set up the booth: Trevor, Sierra, Dewey, Todd, Bunny, Fred Mann, and Sonya Kyllo. And of course it couldn’t be an effective display area without all the volunteers who ran it throughout the duration of the fair. Thanks to all the volunteers who worked booth duty. I don’t have a list of names at this time, however I’ll get a list from Trevor. I know there were several bee associations who helped out.
Dr. Dewey Caron is going to be our speaker at our September 22nd meeting. He is going to speak about what your hives should look like at this time of year. If we have time we will finish the meeting with a round table, so bring your questions.
Cheers, Rich
