What would a traditional Thanksgiving meal be without squash soup garnished with pumpkin seeds, Brussels sprouts with honey mustard or apple pie with walnuts and cranberries? Honeybees pollinate these and many other foods including oranges, chestnuts and even our cotton table cloths and napkins. According to The American Bee Federation, honeybee pollination contributes $14 billion to the production of crops that includes an eye-opening list of fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds and oils. You may be surprised to learn that honeybee pollination constitutes one out of every three bites of food you consume and for us locavores, that number is much higher. Without honeybee poll

With all the buzz about disappearing bees and the emergence of many new beekeepers, honey is finding its way onto our daily table and becoming a part of our food culture. Yet there is very little information available for consumers to make informed choices. So I want to share with you a few facts to demystify the common preconceptions about our favorite sweetener. 1) Honey never spoils and never needs refrigeration. Archaeologists have discovered clay vessels filled with honey, wine and olive oil – more than 3,000 years old – in the tombs of the Pharaohs. The wine and olive oil had spoiled but the honey remained intact and still edible. Honey is best consumed freshly harvested and will loose