Local Honey - Grunow's Kitchen

Local Honey
About Horseshoe Point Honey LLC
Locally owned, operated, and grown, Horseshoe Point Honey is a small, sustainable, beekeeping operation in Suffolk, VA. Dedicated to raising bees in a natural & healthy way, they offer 100% pure honey—just how the bees made it. Never heated or processed, no chemicals used, and only gently screened so that the natural pollen is maintained to aid allergy sufferers.
Unprocessed honey, unlike ‘store bought’ pasteurized honey, is a fascinating, healthy, and natural substance. Many allergy sufferers attest that consuming local honey reduces their seasonal allergies because of the small amounts of local pollen maintained in the honey. Also, pollen has natural antihistamines, which gives local raw honey a two-pronged approach to alleviating allergies. Unprocessed honey also contains small amounts of a wide array of vitamins, enzymes, minerals & amino acids, plus antioxidants. Honey is natures’ energy booster, providing a concentrated energy source that helps prevent fatigue. Latest research proves that honey is a better remedy than any over-the-counter cold remedies for sore throats and coughs.
The major downside of processed or pasteurized honey is that the pollens that many people are seeking for allergy relief have been filtered out, plus most of the beneficial properties of honey (the natural enzymes the bees produce) are destroyed due to the flash heating process. You might just as well eat sugar, since all the natural goodness has been removed.
Horseshoe Point Honey, LLC, extracts honey at the end of each season so that the unique seasonal honey is captured. This is helpful for two reasons. First, allergy sufferers who want to target the seasonal honey to match their allergies can ask for the spring, summer or fall honey. Second, each season contains unique nectar sources which result in distinct honey flavors. Some people regularly prefer our spring, some our summer honey, etc. Our spring honey is almost exclusively tree nectar, collected from trees in bloom March through the end of May, including the Maple, Tulip Poplar, Holly, Black Locust and more. Our summer honey is collected from nectar from early June until end of August and includes many flowers, wildflowers, and agricultural plants located nearby including cotton and soybean.
Local honey is defined as within a 50 mile radius of your location because vegetation and, thus pollens, do not vary much within 50 miles. Local honey contains the same offending pollens that seasonal allergy sufferers need to address. Horseshoe Point Honey is collected in Northern Suffolk, near the Isle of Wight / Suffolk line. All of the Tidewater Area of Virginia is within 50 miles of our bee hives.
Many of the most popular ways to enjoy this miracle food (which never needs refrigeration and never goes bad) include adding it to your tea, yogurt, smoothies, drizzling honey on toast or cereal, or using it as a dip for apples or chicken. Many people use honey as the main ingredient in marinades, add it to salad dressings, and substitute honey for sugar in baking. Or, you can just take a spoonful whenever you need a delicious boost of healthy energy!
Horseshoe Point Honey is state certified by the Va. Dept. of Agriculture to process (extract and bottle) our honey. The beekeeper of Horseshoe Point Honey is Dr. Sean Kenny, who is the current Vice President of the Norfolk Beekeepers and past Vice President of the Tidewater Beekeepers Association. He regularly teaches courses on beekeeping throughout Hampton Roads. Sean Kenny and his wife Jan have been keeping bees since March of 2002.
In addition, Horseshoe Point Honey, LLC, is leading an effort to develop queen bees that are locally acclimated, gentle, resistant to disease and pests, and excellent honey producers and pollinators. This is an effort to counter the honey bee devastation realized in recent years.
Horseshoe Point Honey stands behind its honey and insures it is among some of the best honey you will find.
According to Dr. Paul Gold, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, “people *remember things* much better after they’ve consumed glucose, a form of sugar found in honey.”
Honey is nature’s energy booster! It provides a concentrated energy source that helps prevent fatigue and can boost athletic performance.
Recent studies have proven that athletes who took some honey before and after competing *recovered more quickly* than those who did not.
Honey supplies *2 stages of energy*. The glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly and gives an immediate energy boost. The fructose is absorbed more slowly providing sustained energy.
Honey *never spoils*. No need to refrigerate it. It can be stored unopened, indefinitely, at room temperature in a dry cupboard.
Honey is one of the *oldest foods* in existence. It was found in the tomb of King Tut and was still edible since honey never spoils.
Due to the high level of fructose, honey is *25% sweeter than table sugar*.
Honey is created when bees mix plant nectar, a sweet substance secreted by flowers, with their own *bee enzymes*.
To make honey, bees drop the collected nectar into the honeycomb and then evaporate it by *fanning their wings*.
Honey has different *flavors and colors*, depending on the location and kinds of flowers the bees visit. Climatic conditions of the area also influence its flavor and color.
Fresh, Local Bee Pollen
Pollen Information: Bee pollen is considered one of nature’s most complete foods as it contains nearly all nutrients required by humans. Bee-gathered pollen is rich in proteins (40% protein), free amino acids, minerals, vitamins, folic acid, extra-ordinarily rich in most of the B vitamins & contains only a few calories per serving. Bee pollen is richer in proteins than any animal source. It contains more amino acids than beef, eggs, or cheese of equal weight. About half of its protein is in the form of free amino acids that are ready to be used directly by the body. It is one of the 22 most recommended food energies in the world.
What exactly is bee pollen? Pollen is a very fine powder made in the stamen (male part) of flowers and plants. Bees travel from plant to plant collecting pollen. They use the pollen to feed their young. Pollen reduces the presence of histamine, ameliorating many allergies. Everything from asthma to allergies to sinus problems can be cleared.
How we collect the bee pollen: From April through September, we have what is called a pollen trap on a couple of bee hives. The bee’s collect pollen to bring back to the hive and as they enter the hive, the trap knocks part of the pollen off and it falls down to a tray at the bottom of the hive. We collect the contents of the tray daily, dry it briefly to remove heavy moisture, then freeze it. Sometime after it’s frozen, we gently clean it, removing anything that mixed in with the pollen. We also mix the pollen together as best as we can to provide a sampling of the many types of pollen collected over the months. It will vary in color between white, yellow, brown, orange and even green.
One teaspoonful of pollen takes a bee one whole month to gather (working eight hours a day) and contains over 2.5 billion grains of flower pollen. Beekeepers are able to remove pollen from hives without harming the bees or disturbing their routine.
How Should Bee Pollen Be Consumed?
Mix in with yogurt or lemon juice and it will ‘open the shell’ and allow more nutrients to be easily absorbed.
Add to honey and stir (the bee pollen will be kept fresh within the honey)
Great as “sprinkles” on your favorite dessert, yogurt, honey toast, oatmeal or cereal.
Hand stir bee pollen into your smoothies after they have been blended.
Grab a handful for an energizing pick-me-up.
Storage and Dosage: Keep bee pollen in sealed container in the freezer. Initially ingest a few pellets and observe to insure there is no adverse (allergic) reaction. Gradually increase intake to ½ to 1 teaspoon per day, or more if desired.