Bees-iest beekeepers

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Friday-Thursday, October 30-November 5, 2015

Polk County SUN • 29

beekeepers don’t plan to use your honey right away or you purchased large quantities of it, you can store it in the freezer to help it retain its freshness. However, make sure that you put your honey in a larger container, rather than the one it came in, because honey will expand as it freezes. When you’re ready to use your honey, just pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw out at a constant room temperature. HONEY BELL BEE COMPANY: 412 N. Lanier Ave., Fort Meade; 863-698-9525. Light amber in color, heavy in body with the natural benefits that only honey gives, the taste and delectability of honey from Honey Bell Bee Company is renowned. “You’ll be very pleased with our 100 percent pure premium raw honey, fresh from the groves,” says owner Robbie Bell, a second generation Florida beekeeper. “Raw orange blossom honey has more naturally-occurring enzymes and oxygen than processed honey; and the honey we harvest is deliciously natural with a touch of citrus flavor.” STRUTHERS HONEY HOUSE: 8024 Rose Terrace, Lake Wales; 863-632-5424. With no catalog, no credit cards, no sales clerks, no slick brochure, Struthers Honey House is old school, selling orange blossom honey from local groves and local bees eight miles east of Lake Wales the old fashioned way since 1935. The sixth-generation beekeepers keep the decades-long “honor system” tradition of leaving the retail store unattended filled with rows of honey and honey products. Customers from around the world browse the shop and read the company history posted on the walls

before people are pretty choosing honest.” their honey The tradition of products and the honor system dropping started in the money into heyday of Florida’s a slot in the roadside stands, floor safe. when Struthers’ The family beekeepers values its displayed honey “word-ofon an unattended mouth” adtable by the side of vertising over the road. traditional “People dropped marketing a quarter in a including a coffee can,” says website, alStruthers. “Now though there their children and is a Facebook grandchildren page filled stop by or ask if with glowing that honey place is testimonials still there.” relying on its The Struthers reputation run the packing PHOTO PROVIDED BY STRUTHERS HONEY business on the for producing high-quality same principal table honey Struthers’ Honey in Lake Wales has been in business since 1935. shipping honey on for 80 years. the honor system. As a result of their unique product and the fam“When we started putting our phone number ily’s dedication to beekeeping, the retail store on the labels, then we started getting calls for thrives, as does the packing business located reorders,” adds Struthers. behind the small outlet. “Now we have a good shipping business to “People from Miami come here and they are people from around the world. And as the older sure there is a security camera somewhere, but people can’t get out to drive, but still want their there isn’t,” says Lotta Kay Struthers, who runs local honey, they call us.” the low-overhead beekeeping operation with Struthers says she puts the honey in the mail her husband, Alden, and their two grown sons. and tells people when they receive it, “Just send “Once in a while we lose a jar of honey, but a check to the address on the label.”

BUZZ FROM PAGE 1 Main Street will be a buzz with educational opportunities about how bees are convinced to share their golden product with Polk residents, and with how countless crafts are produced. Centered on East Main with the surrounding side streets the downtown area will be filled with more than 100 vendors who will offer their handcrafted wares or vintage treasures for canny shoppers. Artistic and creative crafts and art, wearables and clever creations are combined with the vintage items from the antique fair to offer everyone something to see or buy, says Simpson. “Main Street and the Ridge Beekeepers Association have partnered to create this new combo event,” Simpson explains. There also will be a children’s activities area, she adds. Scattered throughout the downtown area will be stations manned by local beekeepers who will share their knowledge of one of Polk’s mainstay crops. Polk is ranked the top honey producing county in Florida, according to reports, so the local beekeepers must know what they are doing. The educational booths will feature topics like hive construction, starting a hive, how honey is harvested and extracted from the comb, how to transport or relocate a hive, all about queen bees and nectar sources. If that isn’t enough, Simpson adds, there also will be demonstrations about rendering

PHOTO BY AL PALMER

Get your buzz on at the Bartow Bee Festival. bee’s wax, tools one needs to operate a viable apiary, a discussion of threats to hives like diseases and pests and lastly, visitors can get a look inside a live hive. “This is a new spin and we hope will freshen up the annual craft fair,” Simpson explains. “We hope this will help us reach a completely new market.” She also says that adding the educational component will give fairgoers an appreciation for one of the state’s most vibrant crops. “It’s exciting to think that you will be able to look into a hive and track the queen as she does her regal thing,” Simpson says. How sweet!

There also will be honey vendors joining the crafts and antiques booths, so fairgoers can buy a local product. Also on hand will be the Central Florida Honey Queen who will also be sharing some of her favorite honey recipes. If that’s not enough, most of the bee booths will offer samples so one can discover how honeys vary in taste, depending on what flowers they frequent. If honey isn’t enough to satisfy your taste, there will be lots of good food and treats offered by street vendors and local restaurants. There are also expected to be cooking contests—certainly involving the star—honey.

Visitors are also encouraged to step away from the craft and bee booths to venture into local restaurants and shops to see what downtown Bartow offers every day, not just during the festival, Simpson says. The festival opens at 9 a.m. and continues until 4 p.m. If you want to play a more active role in the festival, it’s not too late to rent a booth space, Simpson adds. It only costs $55 for a 12 by 12 booth space. Applications and information may be obtained by calling Main Street Bartow at 863-519-0508 or emailing mainstreetbartow@ verizon.com.