Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that my energy level consistently plummeted in the midst of my morning workouts. I finally slapped myself silly once or twice…even three times perhaps…and realized that I was forgetting to eat my dose of honey before I headed off to the gym! See…even a girl who grew up eating honey every day tends to forget that I should be eating my honey for other reasons than for the pure delightful taste! I needed energy! Stat!

Honey is a dense, calorie-packed food-about 60 calories per tablespoon. For athletes in need of a last-minute burst of instant muscle fuel, this is great news! Even better is the fact that invertase, a digestive enzyme secreted in the bee’s stomach, has already broken down the sucrose in the nectar into fructose and dextrose (also know as glucose), two monosaccharides, or simple sugars, that can be instantly absorbed into the bloodstream. Interestingly enough, invertase is the same enzyme produced by the human pancreas to break down sucrose- the “sugar” of table sugar-into usable glucose.

To get this honey buzz, try adding a spoonful of honey to your water bottle when biking, running, or working out. Keep drinking after your workout too because honey can help muscles recuperate and restore glycogen levels! Honey also includes antioxidants as well as trace amounts of numerous vitamins and minerals, including potassium, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid.

Moral of the story…get your buzz on to help you throughout the day! Whether you are an athlete trying to push yourself to the next level or a mother of a few tikes that burns her calories by chasing them around all day long you can find that extra source of energy you need right from your honey bottle! Give it a squeeze and feel the buzz!

Several honeys out on the market can be labeled as “raw” or “uncooked” honey. As anyone who’s ever tried to scrape a spoon through a jar of cold honey knows, honey has to be kept warm during the bottling process.

In a hive, the honey is naturally kept at a temperature between 92-95 degrees F…just a few degrees under human body temp. Many beekeepers agree that honey can be heated between 112-120 degrees without any significant change in flavor, aroma, or texture. This is warm enough to keep the honey moving but not so hot as to cook it. Heating the honey beyond 120 degrees can destroy some of its trace vitamins as well as destroy some of the volatile elements of taste and aroma.

Here at Beeyond the Hive we follow a minimal method that our family has used for many generations. As a rule, raw honey is usually minimally processed and we follow that rule to a tee! We only gently heat the honey in order to keep it moving through our machines as well as filter the honey with a cheesecloth. We still hand bottle every single jar! As a result of our madness, the honey retains more individual characteristics than those found in regular commercial honeys! We guarantee the the best honey available!

Next topic of discussion….Can honey really be organic? Stay tuned!

One of the many reasons I love my job is because each day is always different from the one before. I truly enjoy the spontaneity of it all, but never in a million years could I have predicted that when I woke up this morning I would be picking up one of our truck drivers from the Fresno Hospital!

Just like beekeepers, truck drivers are an interesting breed of people. Loading and unloading hundreds of semi’s each pollination season makes it safe to say that Jacy and I have sort of become experts on the situation. We have worked with many truck drivers who are very nice, hard-working fellows. We have also had the opposite side of the spectrum & had truck drivers who refused to get out of the semi’s to help. Many claim they are allergic to bees which often times is the case & we are happy to do the work while they remain safe & sound. However, many of the drivers seem to be allergic to work & that is okay with me too, but I can’t help but feel a sense of pride when our work is done & I knock on their window to sign the paper-work & they see that a female just netted and strapped their load! The look on their face is priceless!

Since our dad has been doing this for so long, we know most of the drivers on a first name basis. Wait a minute…now that I think about it I can’t recall any of their first names! I know we have a fellow named “Rollover Ray” (for obvious reasons you can imagine). He rolled over a load of bees many years ago and has been unable to shake the nickname ever since. We have another driver called “Merlin”. I still haven’t figured out where that one came from. Either he’s a ‘magic man’ or really likes wizards I suppose? Another one of our drivers is an older man who is kind of like the Michael Jordan of truck drivers…he’s goes in and out of retirement quite frequently. We call him “Grumpy” on his own request. No, he is not one of the seven dwarfs but does appear to be a little grouchy from time to time. I’d have to say one of my favorite drivers goes by the name “Billy D. Zero”. You see, unfortunately Billy D. fell off of a load and broke his leg. It was in that moment that he went from “Billy D. Hero” to “Billy D. Zero”!

There really are just too many drivers to name! I know Jacy is entertained by one of our drivers named “Rooster”. He is very loud and boisterous and weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. The best part about Rooster is he always crows as he straps his load! One would think this might get old or annoying quickly, but we always seem to get a kick out of his unusual mating call!

“Yes, truck drivers are an interesting breed indeed,” I remember thinking as I drove to the hospital to pick up a truck driver named Jerry who had been stung on the neck earlier that morning and had a terrible reaction. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this was Jerry’s opportunity for a clever name change. Almost like a right of passage, he had definitely earned it!