Honey The Honest Bear
Donahue Granados
The Tea Squirrel is a San Francisco-based tea blog. Tea is so much more than a beverage, it\u2019s a way to reconnect and discover, it\u2019s the way to find the extraordinary within the ordinary and beauty in the simple things. Tea ceremonies, tastings, pairings, cooking with tea; there is a magical world revolving around tea. Welcome to my blog and I hope you'll join me for tea with Mr. Squirrel!
Such a playful mural needs an equally playful tea pairing! I picked Shan Lin Xi Winter Sprout by Song Tea and Ceramics. This Taiwanese oolong definitely brought surprise and joy. It brought back carefree, happy memories. Its notes of cotton candy and kettle corn are incredible and, as you steep it, subtle floral notes become more noticeable. Such a fun, delicious tea! The honey bears were hooked ;-)
The Honey Bear Durable Rubber Treat Dispenser is a fun, strong toy made of durable rubber. Perfect for dogs, it dispenses treats while providing hours of long-lasting entertainment. Its unique honey bear shape adds to your pup's enjoyment while encouraging positive behaviour.
"Honestly, I can't say this enough, but your toys are the best quality toys I have come across in the 20 years that I've had a guide dog. The imaginative and fun designs of your toys is far better than I have ever seen before"
My Pitty pup loves your toys! I don't know what it is about your toys exactly but they keep her attention and all other toys I've found she destroys in 2 seconds. Your brand is well worth the money. Thank you so much!
As my summer beekeeping season comes to a close, I've processed the last honey harvest and will soon prep the bee hives for their winter break. I've left them enough of their own supply to feed themselves through the winter months and will soon wrap the hives to provide protection from cold winds and snow. And then cross fingers the girls will stay safe, healthy, and happy for a well-earned winter rest!
Similar to last year, one hive was really banging while the other just tried to get up to speed. But with close to a total of 170 pounds from primarily just the one hive, I'm not sure I'm ready for 2 hives at full production! Harvesting frames of honey in June, July, and August gave me 3 different color and flavor varieties due to the abundance of different nectar sources in my area. For fun, I've posted some honey harvest videos at the end of this post.
But even though I've taken my honey to Maple Acres Farm market down the street every couple of weeks this summer, I just learned they are completely out again. Not just of mine, but of all the other local honey sources as well.
The biggest reason I think is that people have really caught on that the honey you buy in the store and the honey you buy from a local producer are really 2 totally different products. And that's due to a number of things, most of which are quite sad unfortunately but I can report there is good news on the way!
Honey sourced from these countries has been found to contain corn syrup, heavy metals, or even animal antibiotics. And most of it is ultra-filtered - a deceptive and illegal practice that heats up the honey, waters it down, and forces it thru really fine filters to remove all the pollen. This is different from the microfilter used by most commercial and private beekeepers to remove particles but still let pollen thru (see video below). The reason fraudsters do ultra-filtration is to essentially remove the 'proof' of where the honey is from as you can test the origin of the honey from the pollen. In a recent Food Safety News study, 76% of samples bought at grocery stores like Safeway, Giant, and Kroger all had pollen removed, and 100% of honey from drugstores like Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid had no pollen.
The good news is that honey fraud has been recognized as a big problem by the American Honey Producers Association and the U.S. government. In the past few years, significant efforts have been underway to prevent 'country of origin' fraud and dishonest importers that are disrupting the market.
Last year, Senator Tester (D, from Montana) and Senator Hoeven (R, from North Dakota), led efforts to get 2020 funding for Customs and Border Protection to purchase NMR equipment and add staff to test honey samples and stop the imports of these fake products. This is great news for states like North Dakota, the largest honey producer in the U.S., and will hopefully help them with getting a fair price for a good product instead of being locked out of the marketplace by unnatural knock-offs.
Not only that, Apimondia, the world's international beekeeping association, has now made a formal Statement on Honey Fraud and for the first time a formal definition of honey has been added to the Codex Alimentarius (the International 'food code' established by the United Nations and the World Health Organization). This will help reinforce an international standard so that these fake products can no longer even be called honey.
Avoiding 'funny honey' is just one of the many reasons to buy local honey. Raw unfiltered honey has so many benefits, many of which have been recognized for years. Not only does local honey just taste more flavorful, it contains natural antimicrobial properties. In a recent paper in the British Medical Journal, researchers compiled the results from 14 studies looking at honey compared to over-the-counter cold products and found that honey was as good or superior to these products in treating common cold symptoms. And given that cold medicines are really not recommended for younger children anyway, honey provides a safe, effective option (as long as not given to children younger than one as their gut bacteria are not developed enough at that age).
So next time you are ready to refill that honey bear, check out the variety of honey in your area before reaching for something from the grocery store shelf. Search up farmers' markets or stores known to sell natural products like Trader Joes or Whole Foods. Most states keep a list of certified beekeepers and many beekeepers sell directly online so that is also an option.
According to the Bee Informed Partnership which surveys beekeepers every year, there were fewer losses this past year and U.S. honey bees are hopefully making a comeback in numbers. Let's support our U.S. producers and help keep our healthy honest honey supply strong!
I am a PEO in Miami Shores, FL and just read about you in the July/August Record. Is it possible to purchase your honey? My daughter's family are big honey eaters and I would love to give them some of yours to try.
Karen Davis
Chapter M/FL
Brother and Sister are sick and tired of following Papa Bear around with their rescue kit every time he goes after the Wild, Wild Honey. When they scold him for not having learned his lesson, Papa makes a solemn promise to forget about the Wild, Wild Honey. But when the Wild, Wild Honey suddenly starts draining from the tree, the Bear Detectives learn that Papa wasn't being honest about his promise. Once the honey is recovered, Mr. Skunk helps teach Papa a lesson he'll never forget.
How is back-to-school right around the corner?! I am honestly in disbelief that Summer is nearly over. And, this back-to-school season has me thinking all about meal and snack options. Having spent the last year and a half trying out new recipes and tricks to get my kids to eat has its advantages. But the ultimate recipe is here. These homemade strawberry gummy bears are perfect in every single way.
Place molds in the fridge for 20 minutes to solidify the gummies. While molds are cooling, keep the gummy mixture warm. If using a squeeze bottle, drop bottle in hot water, if using the dropper, place saucepan on warm.
Bears are generally lazy creatures. But they are pretty strong as fighters. But they dont have good attacks in Ark. I think they would at least deserve a AOE swipe or something. Just with the bite is not representitive as a Bear. Thats what I think. They are not THAT lazy fighters...
...not exactly: the bear's attack is among the highest in the game although it is true that its AOE is practically zero and the DPS can be overcome by other creatures with greater base health and therefore with more points added in % of damage instead of health, in fact its flaw is very low basic health, but if we talk about pure damage:
I think the biggest issue overall concerning creatures, is expecting every single tame, to be good at every single thing. Not every creature needs to be some OP powerhouse wreckingball that destroys everything on site while doing the hula in drag. Some do things amazingly, while being piss poor at others. Its called balance.
Bears are a solid mid tier tame and if anything they're underrated imo. They shine more in Aberration , no pun intended. Their only issue is movement were they rely on building up speed but get stuck on terrain too easily. Also their animations are way too simplistic and boring, so they don't look cool enough and ferocious. High lvl dire bear saddles BPs have also always seemed amongst the more common ones to find.
If you tame a couple good bears and breed them properly they can easily become a powerhouse. They definitely serve the purpose of getting honey though so this would be one of those "eye of the beholder" things. I think they are great.
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