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Community Corner

Bill's Bees a Honey Lover's Paradise

Bill Lewis brings unique products and an inspiring story to South Pasadena's Thursday night Farmers Market.

As I stood there navigating the honey-hungry crowd and contemplating what questions to ask Matt, the nice vendor working the Bill's Bees booth, I was suddenly sent back to my days as a child; sucking on a Wildflower Honey Stick (just 25 cents), I felt a rise of panic wash over me as I became aware of my inability to reach the last of the honey at the bottom.  Just as quickly as I remembered having this dilemma countless times as a child, I also remembered its solution; bite the other end of the straw. At last, victory was mine.

Despite the honey sticks proving to be a bit problematic at times, Bill's Bees attracts quite the crowd. Not only is their all-natural, locally produced honey easy on the taste buds, but Bill Lewis, founder and owner of Bill's Bees, has an inspiring story to tell. He gave up his career almost 19 years ago as an aerospace engineer to – you guessed it – be a beekeeper.

"I guess I got tired of falling asleep behind my computer and I thought, 'I gotta do something else,'" Lewis explained. The decision to move from engineering to keeping bees wasn't an arbitrary one for him. "I got started with bees because I needed a merit badge in boy scouts when I was about 14."  

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After leaving his engineering post, Lewis went to work for an old college roommate to do maintenance at a large horse boarding stables in Little Tujunga Canyon. It was there that his beloved bees found him again.

Years later, Lewis now manages about 400 bee colonies that live in the Angeles National Forest and produce honey from the pesticide-free, Black Button Sage and Buckwheat wildflowers. In addition, the bees are taken to a different orchard each season to pollinate depending on what flowers are in bloom. While in February, the bees buzz on over to pollinate the almond orchards, in April they can be found in the California Citrus Belt, pollinating orange trees. 

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The caramelized honey was my favorite of the few I tested. Dark and strong like molasses, Matt recommended this one be used on top of oatmeal, for a sweet but earthy addition to your morning bowl of oats.

As if a staggeringly large variety of honey isn't enough, Bill's Bees also sells handmade beeswax soaps, candles, lip balms and lotions. When you visit Bill's booth at the Farmers Market, you'll even find reading material and Bill's favorite honey-based recipes (free!) to keep you occupied as you wait in line for your next taste.  The "Quick Honey-Date Bread" and "Honey-Poppy Seed Salad Dressing" are two recipes I'll be trying soon.

Nifty handouts at the booth will teach you about the roots of bee pollen; how there are Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into the Rosetta Stone that make reference to the honeybee and how Greek philosophers believed bee pollen held promises of eternal youth. I also learned that pollen, the male seed of a flower blossom and that which is needed for fertilization, is collected by the honeybee, mixed with its own digestive enzymes and transported back to the hive where humans are then able to collect, process, package and sell it.

But what about the high content of sugar and the "honey versus agave nectar" debate, you ask? "Honey is all-natural," I overheard Matt say with a sly grin to a concerned woman at the booth. Based on my booth reading, honey is also known as "the world's only perfect food" in that it contains all the necessary and basic nutrients for human survival. This ages-old condiment is rich in amino acids, mineral salts, vitamins, hormones, carbohydrates, fats, and enzymes. It also boasts to be a great and all-natural solution for treating allergies.

Don't take my word for all of this – just buzz by the Bill's Bees booth next time you visit the South Pasadena Farmers Market to see for yourself the many wonders of what some like to call the "Nectar of the Gods." And while you're at it, pick up a honey stick and remember: the best way to reach the honey at the bottom is to bite the other end.  

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