Plants are an endless source of wisdom. They are my most patient as well as most persistent teachers.

99% of all living organisms on this planet are plants! That number always astounds me, and I am reminded of our most basic relationship with the plant world. Our constant exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide ensures our survival on this planet. Outside the honey house now everything is a brilliant green, the color associated with our heart chakra. When this chakra is open, we are able to give and receive the gifts of love, gratitude and appreciation. It is interesting as well that out of the four elements (earth, air, fire & water), the one that corresponds with the heart chakra is air or breath. When out in nature among the plants, I am reminded that our breath and our hearts are intimately connected, as we are to the plant world. This helps me remember to slow down, have patience, and open my heart.

A well known and respected herbalist once told me that when she visits clients for a consultation, the first thing she does is take a walk around the property on which they live to see what plants are growing. And amazingly enough, nine times out ten these plants are exactly what the client needs. One of my overall examples of a teaching plant is the dandelion. Dandelions persistence is remarkable. No matter how much effort people put into trying to eradicate this little yellow flowers from their lawns and gardens, the dandelion pops up everywhere, in cities and suburbs, between flower beds and between sidewalk cracks. Dandelion perseveres. As well as being a tremendous source of nectar for the honey bee, this flower has extremely important medicinal use in our modern culture. Dandelion is one of the most effective detoxifying herbs we have, assisting our livers in processing the overwhelming levels of pollution and toxins that surround us everyday. The flower essence of dandelion has specific uses as well for people today; this is for those people constantly on the go, helping people slow down, release tension and find balance in their lives.

Dandelion is not unique. The healing gifts of so many plants are amazing and endless. I was reading recently about a process called Phytoremediation, which according to the Wikipedia dictionary is the ability of plants to de-pollute contaminated soils, water or air by “containing, degrading or eliminating metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil and its derivatives, from the mediums that contain them.” I find this information fascinating. I am reminded again how amazing giving plants are to the planet itself, and I am inspired to give what I can back to her as well. I also realize that for those of us who are making efforts to live more sustainably and trying to help bring the earth back into balance; we are not alone, the whole plant world is here supporting us. The quote from Chief Seattle “Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself’” echoes in my mind, remind me that plants inherently live in a cohesive balance with all of life; it is time for us to do the same.

Recently at our father’s service, I read some lines from Deuteronomy 32:13:

He nourished him with honey from the rock ….

In the early days, bees made their homes in rocky places, and sometimes the honey would ooze out when the rocks got hot. Out of the hard times, we are given sweetness.

I recall the 22 hour drives from Georgia to the north a few years ago when Tom was my driving partner, driving the bees though the night to keep them cool and living. His encouragement for many years will always be so clearly felt.

We hope you are having a good summer and appreciate your support of the bees and plants.

It is always an honor to be around a person of courage.

This week I spent three days with Paul Cappy as we gathered some of our colonies of honey bees in eight yards around and in Chittenden and Addison Country, Vermont; he is taking over the stewardship of these bees, bringing them to Florida for the winter to make an increase in the number of colonies and then back to Lake Ontario, New York for the pollination of apples in the Spring.

Paul has been with the bees for 48 years and started pollinating when he was 16 years old. Over these years he has managed his own commercial operation, inspected thousands of bee hives for the Department of Agriculture in New York, and been a faithful advocate for the honey bee.

Bravery is required to run a commercial bee operation in these times, and anyone like Paul who is willing to make the commitment, work the long hours and expose themselves to the risk of losing a large percent of their bees each season and fluctuations in the crop, deserves our deepest respect.

Farmers like Paul are some of the unsung heroes who support the operation and prosperity of our country. It is hard to understand the level of work required until you work with along side him.

This week, we gathered bees in the snow and wind, from early in the morning, until the evening when the light of the full moon allowed us to work. Nothing would stop Paul; when his truck and forklift would get stuck in the mud, I would pull him out with our truck. When the fields were too wet and the hills too step to get his truck in to the bees, he would carry them ¼ mile on his forklift to get them to our trucks, hour after hour. If they were not taken to Florida for the milder winter and early spring, when hives are split to increase the numbers and make up for losses, many of these colonies would pass on.

As Paul is a savior of the bees, he is typical of the men and women across this continent who are committed to honey bees. With almost 40% of we eat dependent on pollination by insects, much of this by honey bees, our food supply depends on these farmers taking care of the beautiful insects. Honey bees are the “canary in the coal mine”; their populations are crashing this winter because the water and air are not clean anymore. In the bees’ weakened state, mites and viruses move in to decimate our honey bees.

The truth is that the average age of beekeepers is increasing. With fewer young people going into the field these days, less honey is being produced in North America. Correspondingly, there is more contaminated, dead honey from overseas filling the shelves of your market.

Thank you for supporting the beekeepers in the United States and Canada who take care of the bees and support their continued existence in our communities. If you have the patience and some of the courage of Paul Cappy, consider mentoring with a beekeeper and supporting these divine creatures. The bees are a gift and you will receive great satisfaction and health benefits by passing on this old culture.

Friday, Dec. 15, 6 pm: Beekeeping in Nigeria & Ghana- Free Slide Show & Talk by Apiculturist Keith Morris, Honey Gardens Apiaries

at the new honey house, 2777 VT Route 7, Ferrisburgh, Based on Keith’s recent experience with FarmServe Africa, learn about alternative beekeeping techniques, “top-bar hives,” the role of bees in their native habitat, and ways these West African communities are developing mutually beneficial partnerships with this amazing insect. Our honey house is on the West/Lake Champlain side of VT Route 7, about a mile north of Vergennes and ½ hour south of Burlington, the old Marvins Carvins property.

a field report from Keith Morris, part 1 of 2

Throughout this past summer I’ve had the honor of working in West Africa as a volunteer apiculture specialist with FarmServe Africa. I met with small family farmers, youth groups, a variety of co-ops, women’s collectives, ‘resettlement communities’, university students and professors, as well as agricultural specialists and extension agents in Nigeria and Ghana, all excited about the power of the honeybee and its medicines.

The art of beekeeping is anything but new to Africa, the original home of the honeybee. As long as people and these creatures have coexisted, there have been ‘honey hunters’, and legends and rituals surrounding this magical insect. The world’s first master beekeepers were the Egyptians, who saw honey as tears of the sun god Ra, and moved hives up and down the Nile on rafts to pollinate crops. Kings and queens were prepared for the journey to the afterlife with giant pots of raw honey, and their bodies were mummified with secret recipes made with the antibiotic and preservative properties of propolis.

In Africa today, the legacies of missionaries and colonialism as well as contemporary corruption and destructive economic development continue to erode agricultural traditions, especially traditions of healing with plants and products of the beehive. The intention of apicultural training programs are primarily economic: to create additional income to alleviate poverty, and to diversify and add value to farms’ products; but the benefits of a partnership between people and these insects are far greater in scope.

The vast majority of people in Africa have little or no access to formalized healthcare, yet are still subject to a dominant cultural perspective that their traditional means of healing are ‘primitive’ and ‘backward’. This has resulted in a tremendous loss of knowledge about medicinal plants and their uses, and a perceived dependence on manufactured ‘medicines’. As I came to realize the magnitude of this loss, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my community of growers and herbalists at home, and appreciated further the importance of the mission of Honey Gardens. I found new esteem for those who are working to preserve traditions and learn more about healing plants, and these people became some of my greatest allies and teachers in Ghana and Nigeria.

Honey, beeswax, and propolis extracts are ideal mediums for many of the vast diversity of medicinal plants in West Africa; they preserve them and make them more palatable, protect and disinfect wounds, and offer their own important healing and nutritive benefits.

By bringing the beehive directly into the agricultural landscape, we bring in one of nature’s greatest teachers about cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships; the makers of the world’s only imperishable food; greater pollination for crops and higher germination rates in saved seeds; wax for light, preserving wood, batik, and healing salves; the potent and diverse nutrients of pollen and larvae; and the powerful medicine of propolis. These things not only offer potential for an endless variety of products to be made for sale, but most importantly, provide people the increased ability to generate medicines and healing practices for their own communities.

“If we do not do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable.” Murray Bookchin (1921-2006)