I was pretty apprehensive when my husband told me he wanted to keep bees in our back yard. Over time I realized that as a bee keeper and a culinary arts teacher, Chris is able to bring some pretty cool lessons to his students. He brings bee frames and allows the students to eat the wax and honey. Bringing bee frames into the class gives the kids a lot to talk, taste and ask questions about.
Luckily, the bees don't seem any more abundant in our yard or I would worry about the kids getting stung.
Did you Know?
Honey never spoils: It has a shelf life of forever, if sealed properly.
Bees survive on honey all winter.
Beekeepers only take honey that is extra otherwise the hive would not survive the winter.
Honey has anti-bacterial properties which gives it medicinal uses.
Honeys have different colors depending on the types of flowers the bees use to gather nectar.
Last week we had the students make honey chews with the honey from our bees. It only requires 1 ingredient: honey, so it was a fun and healthy recipe.
Here is the recipe from the Mom Mashup Blog:
https://www.mashupmom.com/honey-taffy-an-easy-one-ingredient-recipe/
Honey Taffy
Ingredients
1 lb real honey (about 1 1/2 cups)
Instructions
Bring honey to a boil in an uncovered medium saucepan over medium heat (about 5 to 7 minutes).
Continue to boil until honey registers 280 degrees on a candy thermometer (about 10 to 12 minutes).
Line a pan with parchment paper and coat lightly with cooking spray.
When the honey reaches temperature, pour it onto your prepared pan and allow to cool on the counter for 20-25 minutes.
Spray your hands with nonstick spray, and break off about a third of the cooled honey.
Begin to pull and stretch the honey, continually folding it and working more air into the taffy.
As you continue to pull and incorporate air into the taffy, it will start to firm up and become lighter in color.
Keep doing this for about five minutes, or until taffy has lightened in color from dark amber to tan.
When taffy is tan and firmed up, roll it into several long thin snakes and place these back on your parchment paper lined pan.
Refrigerate pan for 10 minutes, then use a knife coated in cooking spray to cut each taffy roll into one inch long pieces.
Roll up each piece of taffy in wax paper, twisting the ends to close.
Honey Reading and Questions
We needed a way to teach our students about honey, the process of making honey, bee-keeping and its uses in foods so we made this honey lesson. It is easy to use and does not require any preparation for the teacher! You can click on the image above if you want to check it out!
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