Since bees are deaf, they don’t use verbal language to communicate. Instead, they dance to share information and to make requests. (Bees receive the input both by sight and by feeling the vibrations dancing bees cause).
Archive for May, 2010
Bee Dances
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Bee Hive Hierarchy and Activities
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Each of our hives each has about 50,000 bees. Each hive has one queen, and 100 female worker bees for every male drone bee. The queen’s only job is to lay eggs and a drone’s job is to mate with the queen. The worker bees are responsible for everything else: gathering nectar, guarding the hive and honey, caring for the queen and larvae, keeping the hive clean, and producing honey.
Interesting Bee & Honey Facts
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010A single bee weighs .00025 pounds. 4,000 bees together weigh only one pound. Each of our hives has 50,000 bees, weighing 12 pounds together.
Honey Applications
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010It will come as no surprise, but we eat a lot of honey! Here are some of our favorite ways to eat raw organic honey:
Banana-Macadamia Pancakes
Wednesday, May 19th, 20102 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 big handful sweetened shredded coconut
1 big handful macadamia nuts
Banana slices
Macadamia Nut Honey
In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Next, add buttermilk, eggs, butter, coconut, and macadamia nuts and stir until just combined. It’s okay if batter is a bit lumpy. Don’t overmix.
Heat your skillet or pan to medium-high heat and coat it with a bit of butter. If a drop of water dropped into the pan starts to dance, the skillet is hot enough.
Slowly pour about 2/3 cup of the batter onto the skillet. Place about 3 extra-thin slices of banana on top of the pancake batter as it is cooking. Wait until the pancake bottom is deep golden in color then flip with a spatula and cook the other side until golden and cooked through.
Top generously with Big Island Bees Macadamia nut honey and serve.
-from 101 Cookbooks, by Heidi Swanson
Honey Nut Tart
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Pate Brisee for a 9-inch tart pan.
2 cups macadamia nuts
4 oz. unsalted butter
¼ cup Macadamia Blossom honey
½ cup sugar
Roll out pastry, place in 9-inch pan and chill for 30 minutes. Blind bake pastry shell for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and cool.
In a heavy saucepan, bring honey, sugar and butter to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in nuts. Spoon mixture into chilled tart shell. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Whendi’s Honey Cake
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 generous cup Macadamia Nut Honey
3 eggs
1 cup dark, strong, warm coffee (Whendi uses Kona)
3 cup flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon dried ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon allspice
½ cup Macadamia nuts, chopped
½ cup candied ginger, diced
Cream butter and sugar together. Add honey and eggs, and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to butter/sugar mixture alternately with coffee. Fold in candied ginger and nuts, and pour into greased 10-inch bundt pan or two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
Ambrosia
Wednesday, May 19th, 20108 oranges
1 lemon
2 Tablespoons Macadamia Blossom Honey
Grated unsweetened coconut or chopped nuts for garnish
Cut peel from 6 oranges, being careful to remove all the pith. Slice the oranges into a bowl.
Cut the peel off of 6 oranges with a sharp knife being careful to remove all the pith. Remove the orange segments from their casing, and put into a serving bowl with the juice of the remaining oranges and the lemon. Toss gently to mix, and serve garnished with coconut or chopped nuts.
Adding sliced banana or fresh pineapple is delicious too!
Baked Honeyed Squash
Wednesday, May 19th, 20101 pound butternut squash
1 oz. salted butter
1 Tablespoon organic Lehua honey (slightly warmed)
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ¼ tsp. dried
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the squash in rounds and then cut each round in half to make semi circles. Remove seeds. Place the squash in a bowl with the warmed honey and toss to coat.
Arrange the squash in overlapping rows in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle the squash with the leftover honey. Dot the squash with butter and then sprinkle with rosemary. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown and caramelized.
Exotic Fruit Salad
Wednesday, May 19th, 20101 mango
2 small bananas
8 litchis
2 passionfruit
8 Tablespoons Greek or strained yogurt
4 teaspoons Macadamia nut honey
½ cup chopped roasted macadamia nuts
Peel and slice the mango and bananas. Peel and quarter the litchis. Scoop out flesh from the passionfruit. Mix the fruit together and divide between 4 custard cups. Top the fruit in each cup with a Tablespoon of macadamia nut honey and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Serve.