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Melody Duncan was suffering from spring fever. Hay fever actually. An allergy to pollen that was making the prospect of spring less than inviting. Medications had the unfortunate side-effect of making her drowsy. Someone suggested a folk remedy, and she tried it with great results. Local honey. Honey produced locally contains the pollens from the same flowers that were making her sneeze, and something about taking a spoonful of local honey every day was inocculating her against the pollen in the air.

She found some local honey, from Kern County, at Lassen's Groceries at 4308 California Ave, next to Long's Drugs. It wasn't cheap, but she isn't sneezing, and she isn't drowsy. And I always thought local honey was something musicians on the road had in every town they played. 

Speaking of Spring, this Sunday, March 9th, is time to Spring Forward (Remember Spring Forward, Fall Back? Remember to set your clocks forward one hour on Sunday Night to adjust for Daylight Savings Time.

But getting back to honey, this morning on the California Report on NPR I heard a piece about the theft of honey. It has become very valuable lately due to Colony Collapse Disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), formerly called Fall Dwindle Disease, refers to the unexplained disappearance and dying off of many honey bee colonies being observed across the United States. Brian Beekman, a third generation bee keeper in Fresno, recovered about 128 beehives that had been branded inside with his logo. That is a great name for a bee keeper, Beekman, and I remember a bee keeper with that last name who lived around San Francisco. His nickname was "B" Man, and he wasn't the same guy, but I'll bet he was from the same family.

Another branch of the Beekman family has a great website. They also make honey wine, or mead. Another source of local honey, produced right here in Bakersfield, is Wilson's Pollination & Honey. If you want local honey, go to the honey locator website, and there you can search for honey producers by state. Wilson's is on their list. Another great source of information and recipes about honey is honey.com.

Did you realize that honey is available in many different varieties? When bees visit mostly one kind of flower as they gather nectar, the honey they produce has a unique taste, aroma and color from that particular flower.

The main varietals of honey are Alfalfa, Alfalfa/Clover, Basswood, Black Locust, Blackberry, Blueberry, Buckwheat, Red Clover, Sweet Clover, White Dutch Clover, White Sweet Clover, Cotton, Gallberry, Goldenrod, Mesquite, Mixed Flower, Orange Blossom, Palmetto, Raspberry, Star Thistle, Sunflower, Tallow, Tulip Poplar, Tupelo, and Wildflower.

Mesquite honey would sure go good with mesquite barbeque. Bass players might enjoy Basswood honey. Van Morrison sang about Tupelo honey. Bobby Goldsboro sang about honey, too, but that song is just about the sappiest song ever written.

I asked Melody Duncan about her local honey experiment, and she said it was still working. When I told her about the bee hive theft in Fresno, she said there was a sign at Brimhall and Renfro offering a reward for information about another bee hive heist. Winnie the Pooh was seen fleeing the area, with Piglet, Yogi Bear, and Boo Boo close behind.

http://www.honey.com/

http://www.lassens.com/

http://www.honeylocator.com...

http://www.beekmanandbeekma...

http://www.melodyduncanreal...

http://www.californiareport...

http://www.chriscraddockrea...