September 14, 2009

Savannah Bee

Savannah Bee2 2:39
Ted behind the bar at the retail store in downtown Savannah
Ted and I are getting a close look at the newly made honeycomb
Cutting honeycomb for packaging
Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad
Honey Glazed Salmon ready to cook

The south is filled with amazing people, artisinal farms, and fabulous local ingredients for cooking. This summer I headed down to Savannah and visited with our good friend Ted Dennard, founder and owner of Savannah Bee Co. Ted gave me an amazing tour of his facility and taught me a little about bees.

At Ted’s retail store in downtown Savannah, I was able to taste each variety of honey from Tupelo to Orange Blossom and sample the most refreshing honey-mint tea I have ever tasted. The store has such a natural feel with a beautiful wood bar from which they serve assorted coffees and teas, sweetened with honey, of course. In the children’s education area kids have a ball climbing inside the huge beehive, watching a short movie, and learning how honey is made. After I browsed through the store and loaded up on a few incredibly comfortable organic cotton Savannah Bee T-Shirts, Ted and I headed to his packing facility where I received the grand, behind the scenes tour.

At Savannah Bee’s headquarters I watched a dedicated group of employees fill each jar of honey and hand cut each honeycomb for resale. Although Ted’s honey comes from bees from all over the south, he has a few bee hives behind his warehouse just for fun. We suited up in our bee veils and I got a quick lesson on how the bees make honey. To show me the process Ted began by “smoking the bees”. He actually pumps a light smoke into the hives which prevents them from getting fired up by inhibiting the bee’s alarm pheromone. It was amazing to see the bees fly into the hives with orange and yellow pollen attached to their feet. The bees get busy working on producing honey and filling each frame with honey comb. Depending on the nectar flow, the combs can be complete as fast as five days. Generally the beehives average about 5 frames a year and have to visit over 2 million flowers in order to produce one pound of honey. It is a true work of art and the honey that is harvested is like tasting liquid gold.

So often people think of honey as just a delicate sweetener to drizzle over oatmeal and morning toast, but honey is delicious way to naturally sweetened anything from baked goods to something as simple as a salad dressing. Honey pairs beautifully with cheeses and truly has endless uses. Now that fall is the air I am suddenly craving autumn dishes like butternut squash, apples, and pecans. My Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad is dressed with a Honey Thyme Vinaigrette that perfect for kicking off the fall season. I always enjoy serving Savannah Bee’s Honeycomb with fresh rosemary and a chunk of blue cheese.

Recipes:

To see Ted hard at work at Savannah Bee Co’s headquarters take a look at my quick video.

You can purchase Ted’s honey at Whole Foods Market and many specialty retail shops all over the country as well as online at www.savannahbee.com