Bee Limitless Blog en daniel@beelimitless.com Copyright 2012 2012-09-12T18:18:36+00:00 Honey & The Sweetening of Consciousness http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/honey-and-the-sweetening-of-consciousness/ Preparations for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, begin during the height of the summer’s heat at the beginning of the lunar month of Elul. There is a custom during this month to rise before dawn and sing communal poems (called "Selichot" in Hebrew) expressing longing for the divine and a desire to find our way back to a life filled with God’s light. For the mystics, the 12 days leading up to the New Year are taken as days to reflect on the previous 12 months so that when we arrive at the New Year we can at once let go of the past year and integrate it into the next year.

On the eve of Rosh Hashana around the festive table there is an array of foods chosen for their symbolic evocations of worldly and spiritual  blessings: “May our year be filled with good deeds like the Pomegranite is with seeds”, “May we be like the head and not the tail”. Among the wide variety of foods that Jews throughout the Diaspora collected and used for these blessings none have gained a pride of place higher than honey:  “May we have a good and sweet year!” “Good and Sweet”: at once this phrasing appears perfectly obvious.  Who does not want goodness and sweetness? But what might it mean?

Good seems to refer to the basic blessings of sustenance, nourishment, health, clarity and vitality—the extraordinary array of quotidian miracles that we often take for granted, what the great 13th century mystic and philospher Nachmanides called the “hidden miracles” of our daily life.

But sweetness goes one step beyond the good.  Sweetness is unmistakable, it is that which propels us to a higher state of consciousness, to a greater degree of openness.  Sweetness expands our capacity for compassion and allows us to embrace the challenges that we face. That extra, compact burst of vital energy in a drop of honey takes us from “good” to “great”. When we consider the year ahead, we dip sweet sustenance in the shape of an apple into an unadulterated burst of vital sweetness, a sweetness which surprises us in its power and takes us to a new level of consciousness.

May we all have a good and sweet year!

(Many thanks to good friend, Professor Ronnie Perelis, Ph.D, Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham and Jelena (Rachel) Alcalay Chair in Sephardic Studies)

]]> 2012-09-12T18:18:36+00:00 Microbiology Journal Reports that Manuka Honey Inhibits the Development of Strep Bacteria http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/microbiology-reports-that-manuka-honey-inhibits-the-development-of-strep-ba/ According to a recently published study in the journal Microbiology, manuka honey can help clear chronic wound infections and can inhibit the initial formation of bacterial colonies. The results of the study seem to indicate that even in small concentrations, manuka honey prevented the start of biofilm development of streptococcus pyogeneses, which is at the cause of nonhealing wounds.  The studies also showed that treating the biofilms which grew with manuka honey for a few hours killed up to 85% of the bacteria. 

]]> 2012-09-04T07:49:23+00:00 Ever Wondered What a Beehive Sounds Like? http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/sounds-of-a-beehive/ While bumbling around the internet, I came upon the website for National Geographic, with its collection of some basic information about honeybees. I especially loved their sound recording of the inner buzzing of  a beehive.   Turn up your speakers and click here to enjoy the buzzing of thousands of honeybees.

National Geographic  (c) Stephen Buchman
]]> 2012-09-04T02:08:08+00:00 Asheville, North Carolina is inaugural city to be designated “Bee City, U.S.A.” http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/asheville-north-carolina-becomes-inaugural-city-to-become-a-bee-city-usa/ The BEE CITY USA movement encourages city leaders to collaborate with their local beekeepers to raise awareness about honeybees and their importance to local ecology.  On June 26, 2012, the city council in Asheville, North Carolina unanimously passed a resolution to become the inaugrual "Bee City, USA".   The city now officially endorses a standard for creating a sustanable habitat for bees and other pollinators. 

The city then put on its first Bee City USA celebration on Saturday, August 18 to coincide with National Honeybee Day, with  a honeybee themed daytime celebration in the center of town.  What a wonderful show of civic appreciation for honeybees and a postive step in strengthening our relationship with the bees. 

 

 

]]> 2012-09-04T01:29:23+00:00 The White House Publishes its Recipes for Homebrew Honey Beers http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/the-white-house-shares-its-recipes-for-homebrew-honey-beers/ The news has reported for a while now that President Obama has had the White House kitchen staff working on homebrewed beer - a Presidential stash that he shares with friends and people he meets on the campaign trail.  Obama paid for the brewing equipment with his own money, and the White House ktichen staff worked on it on their spare time.

In August, a petition was filed on the White House's website to release the recipe.  A formal "Freedom of Information Act Request" was even filed with the government, requesting the President to share this most delicious of information with the electorate.  Finally, on September 1, 2012, the White House relented to the mounting pressure, and formally released two White House Beer Recipes: White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter.  

The President's staff also uploaded a video about its homebrewing adventure, the first time that beer has ever been brewed at the White House. 

 

]]> 2012-09-04T00:20:25+00:00 United Nations Environment Programme Releases Report on Global Colony Collapse Disorder http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/united-nations-environment-programme-unep-released-report-on-global-colony/ The UN has released a report on the global crisis affecting honeybees, Colony Collapse Disorder, and threats to other natual insect pollinators.  

The report raises concerns that "a sixth major extinction of biological diversity event is underway...The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that out of some 100 crop species which provide 90% of food worldwide, 71 of these are bee-pollinated...."

The U.N. report details the declines in honeybee populations around the world linked to CCD, and provides information regaring presumed causes of pollinator decline.

]]> 2011-07-04T20:59:58+00:00 Manuka Honey Can Reverse Antibiotic Resistence http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/manuka-honey-can-reverse-antibiotic-resistence/ According to this article from Medicalxpress.com, a professor at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff in the United Kingdom is researching manuka honey's interactions with three types of bacteria that commonly infest wounds: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Group A Streptococci and Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Her group has found that honey can interfere with the growth of these bacteria in a variety of ways and suggests that honey is effective for treating of drug-resistant wound infections.

 

 

 

 

]]> 2011-07-03T06:24:25+00:00 The First National Honeybee Awareness Day http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/the-first-national-honey-bee-awareness-day/ Finally, we have a secretary of agriculture who gets it. Today, New USDA secretary Tom Vilsack declared that this Saturday, August 22, 2009 is National Honey Bee Awareness Day. Hopefully this is an indication that the USDA is gearing up to help lead the way to fight the devastation of Colony Collapse Disorder and to help Save the Bees.

Read the press release from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Website. Still, it would have been nice to have more than 2 days notice to prepare!

]]> 2011-05-26T16:44:45+00:00 Raw Honey Raises Polyphenolic Antioxidant Levels http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/honeys-many-health-benefits/ Studies from the University of California, Davis, reported in March 2004 that daily consumption of raw honey may raise polyphenolic antioxidant levels in blood and reduce the risk of damage by free radicals. A spoonful of honey a day could reduce the risks of some cancers, high blood pressure and stomach infections.


The data from this study suggests that raw honey contains health-boosting compounds, including oligosaccharides - the complex sugars found in raw honeys, which help to stimulate the levels of beneficial bacteria in the colon. Natural honey can contain high concentrations of flavanoids and other anti-oxidants. Other health benefits come from the pollen content, which contains protein and carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin E, B-group vitamins and minerals.

]]> 2011-05-26T16:44:01+00:00 Do the Honeybee! http://www.beelimitless.com/blog/what-can-you-do-to-save-the-bees-do-the-honey-bee/ This great video, “Do the Honey Bee” was made by the folks at Häagen-Dazs as part of their Help the Honey Bee Campaign.  The ice cream company has been one of the few large U.S. companies to really show up big to help save the honey bees, a commitment that grows in part of their recognition of the vital role that honey bees play in pollinating the many fruits and nuts that flavor their ice creams.

Häagen-Dazs has partnered with the University of California at Davis Harry H. Laidlaw Honey Bee Research Facility and with Penn State University to further research in this field, education and outreach, and student training, synergizing the collective activities in sustainable pollination at these institutions. Bee Limitless loves what they are up to (including their delicious Hawaiian Lehua & Sweet Cream ice cream, flavored by the same variety of rare Hawaiin honey as our Organic Ohia-Lehua flower honey , and we love the song!

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