honey

So… macrobiotics often refrain from eating all animal products or animal-derived products. Including Honey. From day one of our macrobiotic adventure, I informed Jacob that I would not be giving up honey. When we were in Vermont, I picked up 2 lbs. of some honey from a beekeeper in St. Johnsbury.

Not only do I love the taste of honey and other bee-products, but I love the local beekeepers who work hard to bring this important product to our kitchens. Honey has been a staple sweetener in my diet since I was born, growing up in the home of a beekeeper.

I remember my mom making beeswax candles, my father harvesting the wax & honey-filled frames from his colonies, and the long days that he, my grandmother, my grandfather, and my mother, spent extracting the honey in the garage while my sister and I played in the attic above. He used to come to my grade school classes with little boxes filled with new queens in the springtime, and I was sure that there were no other kids in my class who had a dad as cool as mine –

My mother used honey as a sweetener in baked goods, we all sweeten our coffee with honey rather than sugar or nutrisweet, and, as Jacob professed a few months ago, “I am learning that there are few things that honey does not go with.” So - you get it. I have a big appreciation for honey - - and for the beings that create it, honeybees.

These are the most amazing little creatures! And our ecosystem is incredibly dependent on them. The bees are disappearing - and, as Albert Einstein said, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left.” Beekeepers across this country (including my dad) are reporting record losses of bees, something that has developed in the last few years - and it seems to be a mystery as to what is happening to them… (see this site: www.vanishingbees.com).

The bee colony is like a little city - divided into classes, complete with a queen (the only fertile female in the colony)! Each kind of bee is raised with a role in mind for it, whether it be a drone (fertile male) or a worker bee (sterile female). The community works together to make sure the colony survives - even doing dances to alert other bees as to where the resources are best!

Bee-products are useful in so many ways, not least of which, in home remedies for several ailments. Apitherapy is an often successful treatment for sufferers of arthritis: a treatment whereby beestings are applied to the affected areas, and many patients of this treatment have reported results far better than those they were getting with more traditional treatments for this debilitating disease.

Honey has very high levels of antioxidants, fighting free radicals in our bodies that can lead to disease and pain. And, did you know that different honeys have different flavors - depending on the plants that the bees are pollinating? The flowers they pollinate determine both the color and flavor of the honey. The stuff that I grew up on was Clover honey, which is also what the VT honey that I picked up last week is - and it tastes like home!

As far as macrobiotics goes… I do continue to eat honey - (1) because I believe in the health benefits; (2) I believe in supporting local beekeepers, who work hard to provide this crop and understand the important role that honeybees play in the ecosystem; (3) it tastes great!! One thing that we are learning along the macrobiotic way is that a macrobiotic diet is really developed by each individual person, according to what feels right for them… and honey is more than right, for this macro.