By Marilou Shea

Just about this time every spring, my farmer friend laments

about how the bee population is in jeopardy. It’s a crisis. A state of

emergency on their farm north of Pasco where they grow cherries, apples and

blueberries.

Bees are essential to their crops, not to mention their

livelihood, not to mention a third of all our food crops are pollinated by

bees.

It’s a conundrum to be sure because, due to drip irrigation

and modern farming techniques, like use of pesticides to kill weeds (bees adore

weeds), bees are fleeing farms and foraging in towns and cities. There are more

job opportunities because there are a larger variety of plants to pollinate

than on today’s farms.

The plight of bees is real — but we can help.

Pollination is key, so crops can blossom and bear fruit.

That in turn means that we have food on our plates and the cost to produce that

food is more economical.

No blossoms, no pollination, no food. And no bees.

Humans’ love affair with bees’ honey is as old as time. The

Bible has 61 references to honey and it was clearly, unequivocally a revered

food source. Raw, unfiltered honey is 25 percent sweeter than processed sugar

and never goes bad. Just ask the skeletons flanked with honey found in Egyptian

tombs.

There are two distinctions in the world of honey — raw,

natural and pasteurized. The honey industry is a steady one, but its

consumption rate is not going to rival the sugar industry any time soon. The

real story is not whether we’re producing quantities of honey on a massive

scale, rather how our culture can become bee advocates and sustain our food

supply chain.

Americans consumed 1.6 pounds of honey annually in 2016,

according to Beeculture.com. Honey consumption is up year over year, but only

29 percent is produced in the U.S.

Much of the honey bought in grocery stores is imported and

pasteurized, or I’m going to say it, processed.

Commercial U.S. honey, harvested too early, is shipped

stripped of its natural ingredients and heavily diluted with corn and rice

syrup in China, and then exported back to the U.S.

Pasteurized honey has almost no medicinal or nutritional

value and

offers a pale flavor compared to raw, natural honey. This nectar of the gods is

known for its goodness and health benefits.

More of us are consuming non-processed food, which means

we’re intent on getting up close and personal with our food sources. It’s not

about being trendsetters, but the cost-benefit ratio. With honey, your best bet

is always the raw, natural, unfiltered kind. The darker the honey, the richer

in pollen and hence antioxidants.

Lucky for us, bees produce all sorts of honey — from

lavender and orange blossom to buckwheat and the most popular wildflower. Bees

are some of the hardest working creatures alive. Did you know that the average

worker bee produces one-half a teaspoon of honey? So much work for such a tiny,

treasured payoff.

If you’ve got an allergy like hay fever, wildflower honey

may reduce symptoms if routinely consumed. Why? Because there are so many

varieties of wildflowers and the bees share that love as part of nature’s cycle

with you.

Try sourcing local honey as close to your home as possible.

And by local, I mean within a three-mile radius. That’s the average distance a

bee travels before returning to the hive.

Threats to bees are pesticides, varroa mites and loss of

habitat.

What can you do? Consider becoming a beekeeper and join the

Mid-Columbia Beekeepers Association. Local beekeepers are a passionate, devoted

group and possess a plethora of knowledge. Take your hand off autopilot and

resist destroying the dandelions popping up in your yard with weedkiller

pesticides.

Buy and consume raw, local honey. Here again, local is best

— for you and the bees. Like Pooh Bear, your life is sure to be sweet.

What’s not to love?

Food Love columnist Marilou Shea is an adjunct faculty member for Columbia Basin College’s hospitality program and Food Truck Academy, as well as the creator of Food Truck Fridays.