The Healing Powers of Honey by Cal Orey Read Free Book Online

Concentrating on the hum of the bees and their fascinating matriarchal world helped him dismiss outside distractions and his inner fears in a Zen-like fashion.
    Old Roy twirled a frame of honeycomb before Ted’s eyes so that the sunlight flashed through the honey like nature’s stained glass. The intricately patterned, multicolored cells of honey appeared as a window to the honey bee’s world. Roy cautioned, “Son, I have to warn you that these bees become a way of life.” And so they did.
    Ted’s university years found him attending Sewanee and living in a cabin rented from a retired minister who, coincidentally, happened to be an avid beekeeper. He once told Ted, “If you study these bees, you can see the hand of God in all that they do.” Following Ted’s graduation, the U.S. Peace Corps chose him to teach beekeeping in Jamaica. Two years later, upon moving back to the Georgia coast, he learned that the world’s two finest honeys (tupelo and sourwood) originated in Georgia. That encouraged him to produce as much of that honey as possible and pursue a dream.
    These days, more than two decades after Old Roy passed on to that flower field in the sky, Ted finds himself rattling around in an old truck filled with bees. He spends most of his time in the honey workshop, but when he tends the beehives in deep forested river basins and lush mountain valleys his thoughts go to Roy—the one who introduced Ted to the honey bee.
    Meanwhile, Savannah Bee Company products are sold in at least 2,000 stores, and they have sold their honey around the world, including Australia, Canada, Dubai, and Japan. Over the years, Ted has built relationships with beekeepers all over the world: “I buy honey from most of them every year. I also pay them a premium price so they always sell me their best,” her says. And yes, the grown-up honey entrepreneur with 25 honey bee colonies of his own uses honey (including acacia and tupelo) in his coffee every morning and in his tea in the afternoon.
    So, as Roy the beekeeper cautioned the boy from Georgia, bees indeed would pave a life for Ted, who is thankful for that chance meeting on our little road, and to the honey bee.
    OTHER 20TH-TO-21ST-CENTURY HEALTH MILESTONES
    It is no surprise that in the 20th century honey was a popular business as it swept the nation and world with its gifts from the honey bee, including its health benefits.
    Year
What Happened
Author / Doctor / Company
1952
The Nature Doctor, a classic, was published.
Swiss naturopath Alfred Vogel who recommends honey with echinacea for cuts and wounds
1957
The model of the original honey bear invented.
Ralph and Luella Gamber, founders of Dutch Gold Honey
1970s
Honey was popularized by a Vermont doctor’s bestselling book, Folk Medicine, and honey prices skyrocketed.
Dr. D. C. Jarvis
1975
Honey: A Comprehensive Survey, the most significant review of honey ever pubished, was written by a researcher and author on the subject of bees.
Eva Crane
1994
Health and the Honey Bee was penned by a beekeeper and apitherapist who used bee venom to treat patients with arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and other disorders.
Charles Mraz
2000
Presentation about apitherapy was made by an apriculturist at an international bee research association conference in Thailand.
Naomi M. Saville
2010
Groundbreaking research was done on honey, especially manuka, in New Zealand.
Peter Molan, Ph.D.
    ( Source: South Staffordshire Beekeepers Association.)

    Honey Is Timeless
    Past and present, honey is a food that stimulates the minds of entrepreneurs and creative artisans in America and around the world. Honey and its health benefits were making the news in the late 20th century and continue to do so in the 21st century. And it’s not uncommon to find folks in the honey world to enable you to savor the goods they produce. That means recipes that work with honey are part of their life, like this one.

    Ted’s Savannah