BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ!

People's Light's own Lead Production Electrician is also an avid beekeeper. As her day job, Beatrice (Bea!) Chenkin, lights up our stages but in her off time she keeps busy tending to her hive. The winner of this item will enjoy the honey of her, and the bees, labor.

These bees are a specific hybrid developed by Eli StAmour who is a local beekeeper and owner/founder of Eli's Honey Bees.

They are a mix of Carniolan, Italian, and Caucasian honey bees. Carniolans are known for their hardiness and ability to survive colder climates. Italian bees have an increased resistance to the mites that are the biggest danger to hives, and tend to have a higher yield, especially in the spring. Caucasian bees are able to forage in colder climates and collect more nectar during the colder months and bad weather. Eli has bred this type of bee to have characteristics of all three breeds.

While bigger companies send their hives across the country, this breed is only available locally. As you can imagine, the northeast isn't the easiest place for bees to live. Many hives don't make it through the winter. That means extra care and work goes into giving the best possible chance and helping the hives to thrive. The benefits far outweigh the cost since bees are such a crucial part of the ecosystem.

The bees are unique, but so is the honey. It comes from bee hives in Swarthmore, PA, between two yards that each have a large garden with a large variety of flowers. That means that this honey has an extremely complex taste that incorporates nectar from a myriad of species of plants. Most say it is unlike any honey they have ever had.

Their motto is "it's a gift from the bees so it's a gift from us," and is therefore not sold; it is only gifted.

The color (and taste) of honey changes depending on what flora the bees have been collecting from. These jars are from two different hives from two different years and you'll see they are very different colors and have varying tastes.

Fun fact: Honey is the only food that never goes bad. Jars have been found from 3000 years ago that were still edible. This is due to the low moisture and high acidity that comes from the process by which bees create honey.

You'll notice that one of these jars has honey that is not in liquid form. This is due to the fact that honey crystallizes after a period of time. The crystallization and decrystallization processes have no effect on its taste or potency. It's perfect for spreading on toast or adding to tea. It is easy to decrystallize if you'd prefer it to be in liquid form.

Details

This item includes:

• Three jars of honey from this exclusive beehive.