Knapp’s Nectar

While honey contains mostly sugar; it also provides other important substances to the body like vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and more! Since bees create honey from a flower’s nectar, its exact composition will vary based on the plant it was derived from. Regardless, honey is well known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.

Yes! One can do a 1:1 substitute of honey for sugar in a recipe, but many chefs agree that honey is much sweeter than traditional sugar. In that case, 2/3 cup of honey per 1 cup of sugar should do the trick!

Honey can be raw, unpasteurized, or pasteurized.

All these terms refer to how much heat the honey is exposed to while being harvested. Raw honey has little to no processing and therefore is thicker, may have more particulates, and does not lose any of its nutritional properties. Unpasteurized honey has low heat applied during processing, maintains most of its nutritional properties, and is clearer/smoother than the raw honey. Lastly, pasteurized honey has high heat applied during processing and will therefore be thinner, impurity free, and retain the least number of nutritional benefits.

Most beekeepers utilize large pieces of equipment called “extractors” that rely on centripetal force to pull the honey from the comb. As a consumer, it would be easier to simply squeeze the comb in cheesecloth. The honey will pass through the fabric while the wax remains inside. However, honeycomb is also edible and provides even more nutritional benefits!

Honey has an infinite shelf life. Meaning that – if stored properly – it will last forever. A 2,000-year-old jar of it was found and eaten from the Egyptian Pyramids!

Bees need to visit 2 million flowers to make just one pound of honey!

Humans have been working with bees for a long time – over 8,000 years! The only other insect that has been fully domesticated by humans is the silk moth.

Local, raw honey generally contains pollen from nearby flowers. Ingesting this honey, and therefore the pollen can help treat seasonal allergies.

Local honey is generally considered to be from beehives that reside 25-50 miles from where you live. However, the closer the better when searching for honey to treat allergies. Nearby farmer’s markets, small farms, and beekeeper clubs may all have honey for purchase. If in Eagle County, CO; we recommend visiting Knapp Harvest in Eagle Ranch or visit our honey store to get a taste!

Local honey generally comes from smaller-scale beekeepers who do not pasteurize or alter their honey, thus maintaining its numerous health benefits! Furthermore, local honey is a widely accepted treatment for seasonal allergies. Traces of pollen from local plants that may trigger allergies find their way inside the honey that was made in that area. Locally sourced honey can help protect your immune system from reacting to airborne allergen exposure from those same plants and could help in desensitizing you to it.

The flavor of honey solely depends on the flowers available in an area. Most store-bought honey is either clover or wildflower, whereas local honey can vary based on the time of year and the extraction schedule of the beekeeper. Some extract all their honey for the year together, and others will try to get specific “monoflorals.” Fireweed, Tupelo, and Orange Blossom are all examples of these monofloral honeys that contain more than 60% of one type of nectar and have their own unique flavors. We recommend trying a variety of honeys!

Local honey starts with your local honeybees! Thousands of forager worker bees gather nectar from flowers up to two miles from the hive. They will bring back loads of it in their “honey stomach” and will pass it to their fellow house workers inside the hives. It will continue to be passed from bee to bee, whose stomach enzymes will chemically change and dry the nectar. Once dry enough, the workers will deposit the honey into cells made of beeswax, fan it to dry it even more, and then seal the cell with wax. It is then ready to be harvested!

Beekeepers generally pull honey in the late summer or early fall. They shake or brush the bees off the honeycomb and then bring it back to their extraction facility. Once there, the honey is uncapped and then put into a centrifuge or “extractor”. The comb is spun in the centrifuge, causing the honey inside the cells to splash onto the extractor wall and down into a bucket. After some straining, the honey is ready to be jarred and eaten!

Definitely. Local honey supports local bees and beekeepers! Large scale honey operations can disrupt native pollinators and have led to the rapid spread of bee diseases. A typical local operation is much smaller and has a more genuine investment in the immediate ecosystem. Many local beekeepers are involved in planting more flowers, community education, and creating a more resilient environment.

Sadly, the term “local” is being increasingly exploited by large honey manufacturers to mislead consumers. When possible, it is best to directly talk to the beekeeper or manager of an operation that is close to where you live to ensure you are getting the real deal. Otherwise, we recommend carefully studying the label for any additional information about where it was jarred or harvested. Generally, honey from out of state is not considered local.

Apitherapy is the use of honeybee products for medicinal purposes. Practically everything the bees create can be used to treat some sort of ailment.

• Honey has been used to treat burns and wounds for thousands of years.
• Baby bee food – known as royal jelly – has been known to help with fertility as well as reducing aging.
• Propolis – a sticky substance the bees use as a sealant – can be used to treat ulcers.
• Bee stings have been helpful in treating arthritis as well as autoimmune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme Disease.
• The air and sound around a beehive have been proven to reduce symptoms of asthma, depression, and anxiety. Beehive air is highly-ionized and clean, which has been shown to benefit the lungs and respiratory system as well as have a calming effect in the mind. The sound is micro-vibrations caused by the bees flexing their thoracic muscles. Although bees use these muscles to fly, create heat, and generate acoustical signals. A hive produces frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to over 1000 Hz. The frequencies between 430 Hz and 530 Hz are said to be most relaxing, inducing a deep state of relaxation. The sound waves create air pressure and particle movement so not only can you hear the vibrations, you can also feel them. The light micro-massage balances the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and melts away stress and tension.
• The Benefits of bees; it has been said that beekeepers have great longevity due to the meditative nature of beekeeping, the smells and sounds of the hive, and regularly using honey, beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly. Spending time this close to the honeybee hives has been shown to benefit the nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems.