Bee-Mail:
The National Honey Board's Electronic Newsletter
BeeMail provides twice per month information on NHB programs and honey industry and related industry news. Visit NHB at www.honey.com and www.honeylocator.com.
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Happy Holidays!
The National Honey Board wishes all our readers
a Happy, Honey-Filled Holiday Season!
Las Posadas de Miel – A Holiday Honey
Promotion
The feast of Posadas is one of the most-revered Christmas traditions celebrated across Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Las Posadas festivities, held each December 16-24, commemorate Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. To honor this long-standing Latin tradition, NHB created “Guia Para Posadas,” an all-purpose Spanish-language guide with tips on how to host the perfect Posada, create delicious holiday recipes incorporating 100% pure honey and a list of the most popular Posadas celebrations held each year across the United States.
Las Posadas means inn or shelter in Spanish. Las Posadas is thought
to have originated in Mexico in the 16th century when the Spaniards conquered
the Aztec empire. Catholic missionaries discovered that the Aztecs held
a winter solstice celebration with singing and dancing. Special dishes
were prepared, including small idols made of cactus honey and corn paste.
The missionaries introduced aspects of this celebration into Christmas
festivities.
http://www.mielpura.org
Beekeeper for a Day – Pure Honey Label Design Contest
for Kids
Earlier this year, NHB launched a contest for kids called “Beekeeper
for a Day,” as part of its Hispanic marketing program. The contest
asked elementary school children to design and submit a honey label.
The top prize is a day with a beekeeper for the child and his or her
family. The finalists and winner will be announced soon. In the meantime,
check out some of the hundreds of entries NHB received!
http://www.honey.com/consumers/kids/beekeeperday.asp
Give the Gift of Bees for the Holidays!
Still working on some last minute holiday shopping for family or friends?
Be the first to give them bees! Through a donation to Heifer International,
you can provide a needy family in a developing country with a package
of bees, the box and hive, and training in beekeeping. A gift card
is available to let the recipient know this donation has been made
in their name. From India to the Dominican Republic, bees from Heifer
International help struggling families earn income through the sale
of honey, beeswax and pollen. Although most Heifer partners keep bees
as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family's livelihood.
Information on donating to purchase bees or other amimals is available at
New Zealand Company Makes Lucrative Deal for Manuka Honey
New Zealand health products company Comvita has reached a deal worth
up to $4 million with Waikato University in New Zealand for patents
and intellectual property rights associated with manuka honey. The
company also secured exclusive intellectual property rights for future
product development related to the processing, extraction and application
of manuka honey's active compound for use in the wound care and skin
care fields.
Comvita Chief Executive Brett Hewlett said the technology would allow precise control over the delivery of the therapeutic components in manuka honey, significantly building on the existing proprietary patents Comvita had in the wound care category.
Comvita is a global supplier of premium Manuka Honey, bee-based and other natural health care products sourced directly from New Zealand.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&ObjectID=10414087
Scientists Say Trained Bees Can Sniff Bombs
Scientists at a U.S. weapons laboratory say they have trained bees to
sniff out explosives in a project they say could have far-reaching
applications for U.S. homeland security and military troops abroad.
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have developed methods to harness “the honey bee's exceptional olfactory sense where the bees' natural reaction to nectar, a proboscis extension reflex (sticking out their tongue), could be used to record an unmistakable response to a scent.” By exposing the insects to the odor of explosives followed by a sugar water reward, researchers said they trained bees to recognize substances ranging from dynamite and C-4 plastic explosives to the Howitzer propellant grains used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq.
Haarmann said the bees could be carried in hand-held detectors the size of a shoe box, and could be used to sniff out explosives in airports, roadside security checks, or even placed in robot bomb disposal equipment.
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/9460
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Honey Board
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