Have you ever wondered what the first candy was? The first candy enjoyed by man was honey comb. Before sugar was developed, honey was the main sweetener. Honey has been around since cavemen, and can last an eternity! That’s right, honey has no expiration date! There is evidence of early Egyptians mixing honey with nuts and fruit as a special treat. During these times honey was expensive and reserved for the wealthy. When refined sugar created from sugar cane came along, it quickly replaced honey as a cheeper alternative for candy and treats. Today most candy is made from sugar or corn syrup but honey is still an important part of candy making! Honey is used in candy such as Bit-O-Honey, Honees, and Queen Bee Filled hard candy. Honey is truly an amazing food!

We can all agree that honey taste great but it has many medicinal values as well, honey possesses carcinogen-preventing and anti-tumor properties. It is a powerful immune system booster. It’s antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties can help improve the digestive system and help you stay healthy and fight disease. Honey can even help with hangovers, allergies, sore throats and sleeplessness!
We all love honey but what about the insects that make this super food? To make something this amazing you must have your act together and bees sure do! Honey Bees have a system. There is the queen, whose main job is to lay eggs and create more bees. Next, we have the Drone bee, the drone is a male bee. He flies from hive to hive waiting for a new queen to hatch and mate with. The Drone has no loyalty to a specific hive and has no other purpose than mating. The most important bees in the hive are the worker bees. All worker bees are female. There are many jobs a worker bee can have. A worker bee could oversee guarding the hive, comb building, foraging, capping brood, cleaning the hive and attending to the queen are just a few examples. As you can see honey bees know how to get things done!
If you want to learn more about honey bees, taste some honey candy or see real bees up close come to The Peppermint Stick Candy Store October 13-15, 2017 for Bee-A-Polooza. We will have a safe observation hive where you can view the worker and drone bees, see bee larva, honey, pollen and comb up close! We will also have honey candy available for purchase and our homemade honey lollypops will be available. Made with 100% honey!