Topeka, Kansas (PRWEB) May 20, 2013
The Mohawk Valley Trading Company would like to announce a new addition to their raw honey line up: Sunflower-Summer Wildflower Honey is now available in 1lb glass jars for $ 10.00 each. This is raw honey; it has not been heated, filtered, blended or processed. All of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals and aromatics are in the same condition as they were in the hive.
"Sunflowers are in bloom at the same time summer wildflowers are and since honey bees are free-roaming, wild insects that fly; it is impossible to control where they forage," said Mary Ross of the Mohawk Valley Trading Company where they specialize in raw varietal honey. Varietal honey is made primarily from the nectar of a particular type of blossom or flower. To capture the unique character and flavor of the blossom or flower, beekeepers must study botanical bloom and flowering patterns when planning hive placement.
"In some areas where there are miles and miles of sunflower fields it is possible to produce honey where the dominant source of nectar is sunflower; However, that is not the case here: hence the name Sunflower-Summer Wildflower Honey."
About Sunflowers
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are annual plants native to the Americas. They have a large inflorescence (flowering head), and the name is derived from the flower's shape and image, which is often used to depict the sun. The plant has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads of flowers. The heads consist of many individual flowers which mature into seeds, often in the hundreds, on a receptacle base.
There are more than 60 species of sunflowers and it has been the official state flower of Kansas since 1903 (the sunflower is also on the Kansas state quarter and state flag).
Native Americans were using sunflowers for food over 3,000 years ago. These wild sunflower seeds were only about 5 mm. long, however over hundreds of years of careful husbandry (selecting only the largest seeds for cultivation), the plains Native Americans began the development of today's large modern sunflower, rich with oil.
Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a head are actually individual ray flowers, which do not develop into seed.
About Honey
Honey has been used by humans since ancient times for its health benefits and as a sweetener and flavoring for many foods and beverages, with tea being the most popular. Next to maple syrup, it is the most commonly used natural sweetener in North America.
Honey bees make honey by collecting nectar from flowers and regurgitating it into beeswax honeycombs inside their hive. Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the hive of honey bees of the genus Apis and its most popular uses are beeswax candles and as an ingredient in natural skin care products.
The flavor and color of honey is determined by the type of flower the bees gather the nectar from; therefore, when cooking or baking with honey it is a good idea to taste the honey before using it in a recipe. For example: a dark honey like tulip poplar-black locust honey will result in a strong, heavy, pungent flavor, whereas orange blossom honey will result in a delicate orange flavor. Dark-colored honey is considered to be higher in minerals and antioxidants than light-colored honey, and one of the most well-known dark-colored honeys is buckwheat honey. Raw buckwheat honey contains a higher amount of minerals and an antioxidant called polyphenol, which gives it its dark color. The health benefits of buckwheat honey are many and well known.
When buying honey for its health-benefits, it must be raw honey. Heating honey (pasteurization) destroys the all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants and aromatics. Honey that has been heated and filtered is called commercial, regular or liquid honey.
The reason some honey is heated is that the majority of Americans prefer the convenience of being able to spoon, pour or squeeze honey from a bottle onto their cereal or into their tea.
In addition, commercial honey is clearer, easier to measure or spread than raw honey and many people think that honey that has crystallized is spoiled so they discard it. Honey that has been heated and filtered will not crystallize as fast as raw honey.
The rawest honey available is comb honey which is sections of the hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells of the honeycomb that contain raw honey that have been cut from the wooden frames of a beehive.
Using raw honey is a long-term investment strategy for optimal health and personal care; the dividends are overall mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Like a blue chip stock, raw honey should be included in any health-conscious consumers immune system boosting portfolio and the return on investment of substituting honey for refined sugar in the human diet is incalculable.
Another product made by honey bees and used by humans is bee propolis; a resinous substance that honey bees collect from tree buds and bark or other botanical sources and mix with beeswax, nectar and pollen. This mixture is used by bees to seal gaps in the hive and by humans for its health benefits and as a traditional, natural or homeopathic medicine.
The Mohawk Valley Trading Company offers the highest quality unprocessed natural products they can produce namely; maple syrup, honey, beeswax and natural personal care products. In addition, they offer natural stone, tea and spices from around the world.
Hours of operations are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST, seven days a week. Reach them at (315)-519-2640 to learn more.
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